bayou

American  

[bahy-oo, bahy-oh] / ˈbaɪ u, ˈbaɪ oʊ /

noun

Chiefly Lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf States.

plural

bayous

1. a marshy arm, inlet, or outlet of a lake, river, etc., usually sluggish or stagnant.

2. any of various other often boggy and slow-moving or still bodies of water.

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bayou British  

/ ˈbaɪjuː /

noun

1. (in the southern US) a sluggish marshy tributary of a lake or river

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bayou Scientific  

/ bī′o̅o̅ /

1. A sluggish, marshy stream connected with a river, lake, or gulf. Bayous are common in the southern United States.

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bayou Cultural  

1. Term used mainly in Louisiana and Mississippi to describe a swampy, slowly moving or stationary body of water that was once part of a lake, river, or gulf.

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Etymology

Origin of bayou

An Americanism first recorded in 1710–20; from Louisiana French bayou, bayouc, bayouque, likely from obsolete Choctaw bayuk “creek, river” (modern Choctaw bok ); compare Chickasaw bok

Explanation

Imagine a large, sluggish, often stagnant body of water and you are probably thinking about a bayou, a marshy inlet or outlet of a lake or river. Perhaps the most famous bayou in the United States is found in Louisiana. The term bayou is a true Americanism, most probably evolving in the early 19th century from the Choctaw word bayuk, meaning "small stream," and making its way into the Louisiana French language. There is a culture specific to the Gulf of Mexico bayou areas from Texas to Florida, a mingling of the early Acadian settlers, known as "Cajuns," and the Creole culture. The bayou is a fragile ecosystem that is threatened by pollutants and environmental disasters, such as oil spills.

Example Sentences

The bayou battle breaks new ground: It marks a rare instance where an electric utility has been allowed to cut off customers through a regulatory process called abandonment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Based in Houma, in the heart of the Louisiana bayou, they began enjoying increased prices for their catch last year.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 31, 2025

Pratt was stout, compact and level-eyed, with a raspy drawl bespeaking his childhood on the Louisiana bayou.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2025

At the end of May, dusk yawns deep over the bayou, spinning orange-pink gold across summer-green front lawns, softening the day-bleached glare of pearlshell gravel roads.

From Salon • May 10, 2024

When I get down to the bayou, I keep on walking, right past the pond and up the path I’d taken with Sandy just last night.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender

Related Words

• backwater