everglade U.S.
(ˈɛvəgleɪd)
[? f. ever adv. + glade.
The formation is irregular, and the intended etymological sense uncertain; perh. ever was used to mean ‘interminable’.]
A marshy tract of land mostly under water and covered in places with tall grass; chiefly in pl. as the name of a large swampy region of South Florida. Also attrib., as everglade kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis), a bird inhabiting the everglades of Florida and other parts. Everglade State, Florida.
| 1827 Tanner Map Florida, Extensive Inundated Region..generally called the Everglades. 1837 J. L. Williams Florida 13 The back country presents a singular alternation of savannas, hammocks, lagoons, and grass ponds, called altogether the Everglades. 1841 in Webster. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. II. xxxvi. 33 Her [Florida's] swamps and everglades..gloom the thoughts of the wary traveller. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 153 A very large purchase had been made by one company in the Florida everglades. 1860 Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) II. 300 All the pigs being black in the Everglades of Virginia. |