riparian

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 10, 2015 is: riparian • \ruh-PAIR-ee-un\  • adjective : relating to or living or located on the bank of a natural watercourse (such as a river) or sometimes of a lake or a tidewater Examples: When the students were studying riparian habitat development, their teacher took them on a field trip to a nearby creek. "But invasive plants slowly overtook the native savannahs, prairie and riparian forest that soil samples have proved were there first." - Molly Glentzer, Houston Chronicle, March 31, 2015 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. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.