flood meadow, floodplain (a flat grassy area adjacent to a river bed, subject to seasonal flooding) · mead, meadow · a comparatively large stream or small river
köken: From Middle High German ouwe (“terrain, landscape by water, in water; island”), from Old High German ouwa, from Proto-West Germanic *auwju (“floodplain, meadow; island”), from Proto-Germanic *awjō, from earlier *agwjō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ékʷeh₂ (“water”). Compare with Old Frisian ei, Swedish ö, Danish ø, Old Norse ey, Norwegian øy; also related to the modern German suffix -ach.