bayou

American  

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

noun

Chiefly Lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf States.

bayous plural

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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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• bayous
  plural

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

There’s maintenance and repair work to be done on his boat — named Waymaker, to honor the Lord — before Blanchard musters his two-man crew and sets out from Bayou Little Caillou.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2026

The inquiry has been examining what happened before and during the death of Mr Bayou in police custody.

From BBC • Oct. 21, 2025

The store’s $6.75 seasonal drink, a half-green iced latte with Pandan called the Bayou Beast, is selling better than ever.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 3, 2025

Super Bowl 59 will be the city's 11th Super Bowl - tying the record with Miami - and the stage is set for another football festival on the Bayou.

From BBC • Feb. 3, 2025

“And the next day or the next we can sail to the Bayou Brulow,” he went on.

From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin

Related Words

• backwater