What does aqueduct mean?
Word: Aqueduct
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Aqueduct means a structure, often a long bridge of arches, built to carry water over a long distance to a town or to farmland.
Synonyms: conduit
Word origin: From Latin, meaning 'a leading of water'.
How do you spell aqueduct?
Syllables: aq - ue - duct
Tricky part: After the q comes ue, not ua: students who know aqua and aquarium often write aquaduct.
Watch out for: aquaduct, acqueduct, aqueduc
Memory tip: Water reaching a town along an aqueduct waits in a long queue of arches: keep the que of queue in your head.
Aqueduct in a sentence
Example 1: We saw pictures of a Roman aqueduct in our history book.
Example 2: Tourists in Segovia stop to photograph the aqueduct that runs through the old town.
Example 3: Grandpa says the old aqueduct near his village still works after a hundred years.
Fun Fact
The Pont du Gard in southern France, a Roman aqueduct bridge about 2,000 years old, stands nearly 50 metres high.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Long before electric pumps, engineers in many lands built a tall stone aquedect that carried fresh water from the hills across a deep valley to the town.
a) engineers
b) electric
c) valley
d) aquedect
Show answer
d) aquedect. The ending sounds like duck with a t, but it is spelt with a u, as in product.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Our village's old stone ducqtuea still carries water across the stream to the paddy fields.
a) adequate
b) aquarium
c) aqueduct
d) acoustic
Show answer
c) aqueduct. The letters include a q, two u's and a d, which only aqueduct uses; aquarium would need r, i and m.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word aqueduct as used in the sentence:
During the dry months, the farmers depend on water brought by the aqueduct.
a) reservoir
b) channel
c) well
d) dam
Show answer
b) channel. An aqueduct is a kind of channel that leads water from place to place; a reservoir and a well store it, and a dam holds it back.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. irigation 2. canall 3. reservior 4. aqueduct
a) a waterway dug across land for boats or for watering fields
b) a large lake where water is stored for a town
c) supplying water to land so that crops grow
d) a structure that carries water over a long distance
Show answer
d) a structure that carries water over a long distance. Reservoir ends in voir, irrigation needs two r's and canal ends in a single l; aqueduct has no slip.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A long bridge that carries a railway across a valley is called a ____.
a) viaduct
b) aqueduct
c) tunnel
d) causeway
Show answer
a) viaduct
2. Roman engineers built their aqueducts so that the water ____.
a) was pushed up by steam pumps
b) was carried in buckets by workers
c) flowed only after it had rained
d) ran gently downhill under gravity
Show answer
d) ran gently downhill under gravity
