# Caño (river course born from another river)



## La Hechicera

pls how do you translate the word caño which means a estuary or branch of a big river eg. the Orinoco as it goes thru its delta to the ocean

por favor como se traduce la palabra caño  que en español de venezuela significa un brazo de un  gran rio en su delta
 gracias 
julie, caracas, venezuela


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## cuchuflete

La Hechicera said:
			
		

> pls how do you translate the word caño which means a estuary or branch of a big river eg. the Orinoco as it goes thru its delta to the ocean
> 
> por favor como se traduce la palabra caño  que en español de venezuela significa un brazo de un  gran rio en su delta
> gracias
> julie, caracas, venezuela



Hola Julie,

You have already given two translations!  I would say the 'navigable portion/part of a river'.  Not all rías/estuaries allow for the passage of ships, but I believe that a caño does.

Hope this is of some help.

Saludos,
Cuchu

PD-  Bienvenida a los foros.


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## La Hechicera

Thank you for your posting!
So, there seems to be no ONE WORD equivalent in English for CAÑO.
I wonder what they call down (or up, considering that I´m way down from ) in New Orleans the ship canals formed by the Mississippi.


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## Chaucer

La Hechicera said:
			
		

> pls how do you translate the word caño which means a estuary or branch of a big river eg. the Orinoco as it goes thru its delta to the ocean
> 
> por favor como se traduce la palabra caño  que en español de venezuela significa un brazo de un  gran rio en su delta
> gracias
> julie, caracas, venezuela



He aquí unas frases que hablan del Río Orinoco, y sus *channels* y de su delta llamada *Río Grande*.

This *channel*, a feature peculiar to the Orinoco River system, ... The main *channel *of the Orinoco, known in the *delta *as the Río Grande, flows eastward

flow passes through the Brazo Casiquiare (Casiquiare *Channel*) into a *tributary* of the Amazon, and the remainder passes into the main Orinoco *channel*. ..

Se entiende que un *channel* es navegable.


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## el alabamiano

La Hechicera said:
			
		

> Thank you for your posting!
> So, there seems to be no ONE WORD equivalent in English for CAÑO.
> I wonder what they call down (or up, considering that I´m way down from ) in New Orleans the ship canals formed by the Mississippi.


They are called bayous. I live near Bayou la Batre. At one time, Mobile (in Alabama) was the capital of the Louisiana.

bay·ou (bī*'*ū, bī*'*ō) 
_n._




 A body of water, such as a creek or small river, that is a tributary of a larger body of water.
 A sluggish stream that meanders through lowlands, marshes, or plantation grounds.
[Louisiana French bayouque, bayou, possibly from Choctaw bayuk.]


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## cuchuflete

He aquí algo del diccionario de la RAE:



> 10. m. Mar. Canal angosto, aunque navegable, de un puerto o bahía.
> 11. m. Mar. canalizo.
> 12. m. Ven. Curso de agua de caudal irregular y lento, sin ribera arenosa, por el que desaguan los ríos y lagunas de las regiones bajas.



Y 'canalizo' es:   1. m. Mar. Canal estrecho entre islas o bajos.

The problem with channel, which has been suggested, is that it is a fairly generic term.  "Ship channel" would be more accurate and better describes what I believe you are talking about.

Saludos,
Cuchu


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## Lakeview

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> He aquí algo del diccionario de la RAE:
> 
> 
> 
> Y 'canalizo' es: 1. m. Mar. Canal estrecho entre islas o bajos.
> 
> The problem with channel, which has been suggested, is that it is a fairly generic term. "Ship channel" would be more accurate and better describes what I believe you are talking about.
> 
> Saludos,
> Cuchu


 
"Navigation channel" may also work:

"The Long-Term Management Strategies Plan for Coastal Navigation Channels is administered by the LDNR and provides for the development of ten-year beneficial dredged material disposal plans for coastal zone portions of the following *navigation channels* in Louisiana: Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Calcasieu River, Mermentau River, Freshwater Bayou, Atchafalaya River, Houma Navigation Canal, Bayou LaFourche, Barataria Bay Waterway, Mississippi River, and Mississippi River Gulf Outlet."

http://lacoast.gov/reports/cwcrp/1993/exhibit6.htm


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## cuchuflete

Lakeview said:
			
		

> "Navigation channel" may also work:
> 
> "The Long-Term Management Strategies Plan for Coastal Navigation Channels is administered by the LDNR and provides for the development of ten-year beneficial dredged material disposal plans for coastal zone portions of the following *navigation channels* in Louisiana: Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Calcasieu River, Mermentau River, Freshwater Bayou, Atchafalaya River, Houma Navigation Canal, Bayou LaFourche, Barataria Bay Waterway, Mississippi River, and Mississippi River Gulf Outlet."
> 
> http://lacoast.gov/reports/cwcrp/1993/exhibit6.htm



Thanks Lakeview,

That works for me, as it combines the two key elements:
navigable waterway 
and
channel.

saludos,
Cuchu


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## La Hechicera

I will use navegation channel for the big caños such as Caño Manamo and bayou for the smaller caños that meander through mangroves and swamps. As soon as I post on the internet the pictures and description of our trip trough this enchanted land: the Orinoco Delta I will paste the link in this Forum for all to see
You´ll have been a great help, thanks
julie, caracas, venezuela


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## Crickett

I would suggest "navigable waterway" as "channel" means one charted and marked with buoys. Such channels have an assured minimum depth ("controlling depth"). "Navigable waterway" is an appropriately fuzzy, general term.

I would avoid "bayou" -- this term evokes the Mississippi delta, Cajuns, blackened whitefish, etc. "Gunkholes" are thus called only from the Chesapeake Bay north into New England. There is no specific word for non-navigable watercourses, to my knowledge. I would refer to them as shallow tributary watercourses/waterways or the like.

My apologies for not being able to be more precise on the lesser waterways.


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## Lagartija

Crickett said:
			
		

> I would suggest "navigable waterway" as "channel" means one charted and marked with buoys. Such channels have an assured minimum depth ("controlling depth"). "Navigable waterway" is an appropriately fuzzy, general term.
> 
> I would avoid "bayou" -- this term evokes the Mississippi delta, Cajuns, blackened whitefish, etc. "Gunkholes" are thus called only from the Chesapeake Bay north into New England. There is no specific word for non-navigable watercourses, to my knowledge. I would refer to them as shallow tributary watercourses/waterways or the like.
> 
> My apologies for not being able to be more precise on the lesser waterways.



Channel does not always mean a waterway that is marked with buoys and has a controlling depth.  
Being a sailor, I agree that it is generally the accepted definition of the word when discussing navigation, referring to navigational charts, and in the parlance of mariners .  However, "channel" is also used to refer to the "main channel" of a river as opposed to a side channel.  "Most of the water is flowing in the main channel of the Ashuelot, but there is sufficient flow in the side channels to run it." This usage (often by white water enthusiasts) does not need to (and usually doesn't) refer to a bouyed waterway.

I too, agree that bayou is not a word I would use for a navigable waterway... which I imagine is not navigable except by a canoe!


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## megapicu

Hi there,

I am looking for the English word that means "Caño". In Venezuela a "Caño" is a river course that born from another river, it is the opposite of a afluent in fact it is a diffluent, and can be navigable or not.

Thank you in advance

Rafael


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## Masood

megapicu said:


> In Venezuela a "Caño" is a river course that born from another river...


Hi
In English, a _Distributary_.


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## Lis48

I would suggest that the English term is a _distributary_ which contains water that is difluent or flows outwards. Difluent is more normally used with air flow than water and as far as I know is an adjective rather than a noun. The opposite of a distributary is a tributary which brings water into the river i.e. afluent water. The Nile delta is made up of several distributaries discharging difluent water into the sea. Hope that helps.


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## alberto magnani

Caño = Ramal.


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## scotu

alberto magnani said:


> Caño = Ramal.



I am having trouble making the connection between _caño _and ramal, can you expand?

scotu


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## alberto magnani

Please see:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ca%C3%B1o


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## scotu

Thank you, I found this in your link:


> Cuando está comunicado indirectamente al mar por medio de un *caño* principal, o es un *ramal* de éste,


Does this mean that "_ramal_" is the same as "_caño_"?


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## agromusica

Hello, 

I think that possible translations for caño are:

*"river arm", "distributary" and "branch of a river"*

Waterway is always navigable.

A river arm can be a waterway but it doesn't have to be. 

Channel is too generic and can be applied for every course of water, natural or artificial, and you must specify the kind of river your talking about. In natural rivers, the term channel defines the many arms of braided rivers: main channel, side channel, secondary channel...... 

saludos


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## jose david

Los venezolanos siempre creyéndose los dueños del mundo... Ahora dizque la palabra caño es del español de Venezuela, jejeeje. Aquí en Colombia, al menos (y no debemos ser los únicos), también se usa la palabra, y bastante. Es famoso el sistema de caños de Barranquilla, miren esto: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistema_de_caños_de_Barranquilla
Ah, y la traducción es lo más simple del mundo: channel! así de sencillito.


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