waterway
/ˈwɔːtəweɪ/noun
waterway is spelled W-A-T-E-R-W-A-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, waterway means “A body of water, such as a river, channel or canal, that is navigable” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of waterway is waterways.
How many letters and syllables are in waterway?
| Letters | 8: W-A-T-E-R-W-A-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is waterway?
Waterway appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce waterway?
- UK /ˈwɔːtəweɪ/
- British /ˈwoːtəwɛj/
- /ˈwɔtɚweɪ/
Waterway has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-waterway.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of waterway
- waterways plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does waterway mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A body of water, such as a river, channel or canal, that is navigable.
- 2
A conduit or watercourse, such as on the deck of a ship, to drain water.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Waterway in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense navigable body of water:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | voie navigable |
| German | Wasserstraße, Wasserweg, Fahrwasser |
| Portuguese | hidrovia |
| Spanish | hidrovía, torrentera |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does waterway come from?
From Middle English waterwey, from Old English wæterweġ (“waterway”), from Proto-West Germanic *watarweg, equivalent to water + way. Compare Saterland Frisian Woaterwai (“waterway”), West Frisian wetterwei (“waterway”), Dutch waterweg (“waterway”), German Wasserweg (“waterway”), Danish vandvej (“waterway”), Swedish vattenväg (“waterway”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).