Eaux

Eaux is the plural form of the French noun eau, meaning waters. In everyday French, eau is typically treated as an uncountable substance, but when speaking of distinct bodies of water or different sources, the plural eaux is used. Examples include les eaux du lac (the waters of the lake), les eaux marines (the sea waters), or les eaux usées (wastewater).

Etymology and pronunciation: The word eau comes from Latin aqua, and the plural form -eau becomes -eaux in French. In pronunciation, eau and eaux share the same sound, both pronounced as a single syllable /o/, with the final -x silent.

Toponymy and usage: The element eau or eaux appears frequently in French-speaking place names and descriptions to indicate proximity to water. A well-known example is Eaux-Vives, a district of Geneva, Switzerland, whose name translates as “Living Waters.” In France and other Francophone regions, toponyms often use eau-related elements to reflect rivers, springs, or other water features. The term also appears in everyday phrases such as eaux vives (swift waters), eaux stagnantes (stagnant waters), and eaux usées (wastewater).

See also: The singular eau, meaning water in French, and related compounds like eaux-de-vie, a term for distilled spirits. The word is primarily encountered in French-language contexts, including literature, geography, and legal or environmental terminology where water is discussed as a communicable resource.