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palude

swamp

noun pah-LOO-deh Rare

Origin: From Latin 'palus / paludis', a swamp or marsh.

Also means

marsh

Usage Note

Palude is feminine: la palude. The plural is le paludi. Figuratively it is used like the English 'quagmire' to describe a bureaucratic or political deadlock: essere intrappolati nella palude burocratica (to be trapped in a bureaucratic swamp). The adjective paludoso means swampy.

Examples

"Le rane vivono vicino alla palude."

Natural Translation

Frogs live near the swamp.

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