riparian

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The Word of the Day for April 21 is:

riparian   \ruh-PAIR-ee-un\   adjective
     : relating to or living or located on the bank of a natural watercourse (as a river) or sometimes of a lake or a tidewater

Example sentence:
     Residents of the riparian community learned to brace themselves for a flood whenever torrential rain was forecast. 

Did you know?
     "Riparian" came to English from the same source that gave us "river" -- the Latin "riparius," a noun deriving from "ripa," meaning "bank" or "shore." First appearing in English in the 19th century, "riparian" refers to things that exist alongside a river (such as riparian wetlands, habitats, trees, etc.). Some river communities have laws called "riparian rights," referring to the rights of those owning land along a river to have access to the waterway. Note the distinction of this word from "littoral," which usually refers to things that occur along the shore of a sea or ocean.






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