paludal
Americanadjective
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of or relating to marshes.
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produced by marshes, as miasma or disease.
adjective
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of, relating to, or produced by marshes
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malarial
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of paludal
First recorded in 1810–20; from Latin palūd- (stem of palūs ) “swamp, marsh” + -al 1
Explanation
Paludal describes things relating to, inhabiting, or occurring in marshes and swamps. Hikers who wander onto paludal terrain might find themselves slogging through mud and standing water. Derived from the Latin word palus, meaning "marsh," paludal is a formal term used to describe wetland environments. In ecology, it refers to plants, animals, and habitats associated with swamps, marshes, fens, and bogs. In geology, it can refer to sediment formed in wetlands. Historically, the word was used in medicine, especially referring to "paludal fever," an older term for malaria because of the disease's association with marshy, mosquito-filled areas.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Nearly a million cubic yards of sediment had made the five-mile journey, resulting in the creation—or, to be more accurate, the re-creation—of a hundred and eighty-six paludal acres.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 25, 2019
A characteristic paludal deposit is a peat bog, a deposit rich in organic matter that can be converted into coal when lithified.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2017
But in accordance with the idea that malaria is a product of paludal decomposition, the trees selected have almost always been the eucalyptus.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 458, October 11, 1884 by Various
The specific ferment which engenders those fevers by its accumulation in the atmosphere which we breathe is not exclusively of paludal origin, and still less is it a product of putrefaction.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 458, October 11, 1884 by Various
Unfortunately the investigations undertaken for this end have for a long time been fruitless, for the preconceived paludal theory has led investigators to occupy themselves exclusively with the inferior organisms inhabiting marshes.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 458, October 11, 1884 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
