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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