coteau

co·teau
C3O1T1E1A1U1
US/kəˈtoʊ/

noun

A hilly upland including the divide between two valleys.

OriginFrench coteau ← Old French costel ← Latin costa →
UncommonScrabble 8
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nouncoteau (plural coteaus or coteaux)

plural coteaus · plural coteaux · alternative rare côteau

  1. CanadaUSA hilly upland including the divide between two valleys.

    It happened when he was a tiny boy standing at the edge of a prairie coteau. From that place, he saw the buffalo trudging out of the horizon on one side of the world.

    2020, Louise Erdrich, The Night Watchman, Corsair (2021), page 267
  2. CanadaUSThe side of a valley.

Origin

  1. Latincosta“rib, side”
  2. Old Frenchcostel
  3. Frenchcoteau
  4. Englishcoteau

From French coteau, from Old French costel, from Latin costa (“rib, side”).

More words from French, Old French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

coteau. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coteau

MLA

“coteau.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coteau. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “coteau,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coteau.

Source: coteau on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.