Bayou Is a Choctaw Word That Went Through French
A bayou is a slow marshy waterway. The word came from the Choctaw language into Louisiana French and then into English.
A bayou is a slow-moving, often marshy waterway, typical of Louisiana and the Gulf coast. The word travelled through three languages: Choctaw *bayuk*, a small stream, was taken into Louisiana French as *bayouque*, and English borrowed it from there in the 1760s. It is one of a small group of American English words that reached the language through French rather than directly from an Indigenous source.
- A slow marshy waterway. *Fishing in the bayou.*
- The bayou country. *Life on the bayou.*
- Bayou State — a nickname for Louisiana and Mississippi. *The Bayou State.*
- Choctaw — *bayuk*, a small stream. *The source word.*
- Related landscape — swamp, marsh, slough. *A cypress swamp.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | bayou | A quiet bayou. |
| Plural | bayous | The bayous. |
| Choctaw | bayuk | A small stream. |
| Related | swamp | A cypress swamp. |
| Related | marsh | A salt marsh. |
- The bayou runs black under the cypresses.Description.
- Bayou comes from Choctaw through French.Etymology.
- Bayou Teche is one of the longest.Louisiana geography.
Indigenous words through French
- Bayou — Choctaw, through Louisiana French
- Toboggan — Algonquian, through Canadian French
- Caribou — Mi'kmaq, through French
- Prairie — French itself, but naming a New World landscape
- Many others came directly, including moose, skunk and raccoon
Louisiana French *bayouque*, from Choctaw *bayuk*, a small stream or creek. English recorded it in the 1760s.
What is the difference between a bayou and a swamp?
A bayou is a waterway, usually slow and shallow. A swamp is waterlogged wooded ground, which a bayou may run through.
Is bayou a French word?
It reached English through French but originated in Choctaw, an Indigenous language of the American south-east.