Playa

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈplaɪə/

Definitions

1. A dried-up lake bed or flat expanse of hard ground in an arid region that periodically fills with water during rainy seasons
2. An arid terrain feature characterized by a flat, often dry lake basin that can accumulate water temporarily during rainfall events
3. A geographic plain in desert areas that typically lacks significant vegetation but may collect water after precipitation occurs

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "playa" is that its English meaning comes from a Spanish word for "beach," not from any idea of sand or shoreline. Spanish "playa" meant a beach or seashore, and English borrowed it in the American West, where it was applied to the flat, dry lake beds of the desert. These basins look like the shores of vanished lakes, which is why the seaside word fit so well: the ground once held water, and the Spanish name for that edge stayed attached to the empty floor. The word is also a doublet of "plage," the French term for beach, since both descend from the same Latin root and reached their current forms by different routes. English speakers who know "plage" from travel writing are therefore looking at a cousin of the desert term.