arroyo

noun

ar·​royo ə-ˈrȯi-(ˌ)ō 

-ə

plural arroyos

1

: a watercourse (such as a creek) in an arid region

2

: a water-carved gully or channel

Examples of arroyo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Her soon-to-be husband waited for her where the arroyo opened to the road. —Literary Hub, 18 Mar. 2026

At one still-damp arroyo, the cast-concrete components of a bridge had been tumbled 50 yards downstream from their foundation. —Kevin West, Travel + Leisure, 10 Mar. 2026

This crystal-clear waterway is home to multiple species of fish, including rainbow trout and the (adorable) arroyo chub. —Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026

There are potsherds and petroglyphs all over, plus an old adobe cabin up in the arroyo. —Rowan Jacobsen, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Spanish, probably of pre-Latin substratal origin

Note: The word arroyo is traditionally compared with Latin arrugia, a word used by Pliny (Historia naturalis 33.70) for galleries excavated into mountainsides in the Iberian peninsula to extract gold. Presumably the word was extended from the sense "artificial passageway" to "natural passageway" (or vice versa, if "natural passageway" was the original sense). In medieval documents of Asturias, from 775 on, arogium and variants occur as latinized forms of the vernacular word.

First Known Use

1777, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

arroyo

noun

ar·​royo ə-ˈrȯi-ə 

-ˈrȯi-(ˌ)ō

plural arroyos

1

: a waterway (as a creek) in a dry region

2

: an often dry gully or channel carved by water