This week’s theme
Words borrowed from Native American languages

This week’s words
cornpone
bayou
sagamore
mugwump
totem

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(BY-yoo, -oh)

MEANING:

noun: A sluggish marshy area of water, typically an overflow or tributary to a lake or river.

ETYMOLOGY:

Via Louisiana French from Choctaw bayuk (small stream). Earliest documented use: 1766.

USAGE:

“The network of navigable bayous and cypress swamps veining the area just outside New Orleans was hospitable territory for escaped slaves.”
Home-Grown and Spirit-Raised; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 22, 2012.

See more usage examples of bayou in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: