Etymology

coulee

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Today it means: A stream, especially one in the western US or Canada, generally smaller than a bayou; it may (or may not) run dry in summer, may be sluggish, shallow, and wide (forming in effect a pond or slough), or may have formerly cut a deep gulch or ravine, but at present run dry. Full definition →

French coulée
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The story

  1. French · borrowed fromcoulée“flow”
  2. English todaycoulee

From French coulée (“flow”), from couler (“to flow”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.