wetland

wetland — noun

1. A low-lying area of land, such as a marsh, bog, or swamp, where the ground stays

1.nounB2
Definition

A low-lying area of land, such as a marsh, bog, or swamp, where the ground stays wet or covered with shallow water for most of the year.

Example

The government has promised to protect the coastal wetlands from development.

collocation: coastal wetland / protect + wetland

Yael and her biology class visited the wetland to study frogs and aquatic plants.

field trip collocation: visit + wetland

Common collocations
  • coastal wetland
  • freshwater wetland
  • protect a wetland
  • drain a wetland
  • restore a wetland
  • wetland ecosystem
Synonyms
  • marsh

    a wetland with grassy plants and few trees

  • swamp

    a wetland dominated by trees and shrubs

  • bog

    a wetland with acidic water and spongy peat ground

  • fen

    a wetland fed by groundwater, less acidic than a bog

Antonyms
  • desert

    land with very little water, opposite of wetland conditions

Grammar Patterns

wetland / wetlands

Usage Note

Often used in the plural form 'wetlands' when referring to a large area or a system of connected wetland zones.

Common Mistakes

I saw a wetland today — it was just a muddy puddle.
I visited a wetland today
it was a large area of marsh and shallow water.' — A wetland is a specific type of ecosystem, not just any patch of wet ground.
A swamp is different from a wetland.
A swamp is a type of wetland, just like marshes and bogs.
Wetland is a general category; swamps, marshes, and bogs are subtypes.

wetland — adjective

Word family

  • wetlands
    plural nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Wetland is the broadest term, covering any land that is waterlogged for part or all of the year. A marsh is a grassy wetland with shallow water and few trees, common along river edges. A swamp is a wetland dominated by trees and shrubs, often with deeper water. A bog is an acidic, nutrient-poor wetland where dead plant material builds up as peat; rainwater is its main water source. A fen is similar to a bog but fed by mineral-rich groundwater, making it less acidic and more diverse in plant life. For everyday use, call a treeless wet area a marsh, a wooded wet area a swamp, and any spongy, acidic wet ground a bog.

marsh ↗swamp ↗bogfen

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • wetland ecosystem
  • coastal wetland
  • freshwater wetland

Prepositions

  • in wetlands
  • through wetlands
  • across wetlands
  • of wetlands

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Formed by combining the words 'wet' (covered with water or moisture) and 'land' (ground or earth). The compound first appeared in English writing during the mid-1700s as a general term for waterlogged ground, and became widely used in environmental science and law from the mid-1900s onward.