%bayou%

n.; pl. Bayous [ North Am. Indian bayuk, in F. spelling bayouc, bayouque. ] An inlet from the Gulf of Mexico, from a lake, or from a large river, sometimes sluggish, sometimes without perceptible movement except from tide and wind. [ Southern U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A dark slender thread of a bayou moves loiteringly northeastward into a swamp of huge cypresses. G. W. Cable. [ 1913 Webster ]