# Barachois

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Coastal lagoon partially or totally separated from the ocean by a sand or shingle bar

For other uses, see [Barachois (disambiguation)](/source/Barachois_(disambiguation)).

A barachois at South Lake, Prince Edward Island.

A **barachois** is a type of coastal [lagoon](/source/Lagoon) partially or totally separated from the [ocean](/source/Ocean) by a sand or shingle bar. The term is used in [Atlantic Canada](/source/Atlantic_Canada), [Saint Pierre and Miquelon](/source/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon), [Réunion](/source/R%C3%A9union), and [Mauritius](/source/Mauritius). On [Diego Garcia](/source/Diego_Garcia) in the [British Indian Ocean Territory](/source/British_Indian_Ocean_Territory), it describes narrow-mouthed saltwater wetlands within the lagoon.[1]

In some cases, the separating bar is composed of boulders rather than sand, such as at Freshwater Bay near St. John’s, Newfoundland. [Salt water](/source/Seawater) may enter a barachois during high [tides](/source/Tide).

Barachois features often form as a result of [sediment](/source/Sediment) deposition in the [delta](/source/River_delta) of a [river](/source/River) or, in some locations such as [Miquelon Island](/source/Miquelon_Island), by a [tombolo](/source/Tombolo).

## Name

Despite its French form, the term *barachois* did not enter Canadian usage with the earliest French explorers. Writers such as [Samuel de Champlain](/source/Samuel_de_Champlain) and [Jacques Cartier](/source/Jacques_Cartier) instead used expressions such as *havre de barre* (or *hable de barre*), meaning a natural harbour protected by a sandbar.

Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origin of *barachois*. A widely circulated folk etymology derives it from the French phrase *barre à choir*; this and similar explanations have been rejected by linguists. According to the [Trésor de la langue française au Québec](/source/Tr%C3%A9sor_de_la_langue_fran%C3%A7aise_au_Qu%C3%A9bec), the term is instead of [Basque](/source/Basque_language) origin, derived from *barratxoa*, meaning “small bar”. The word was adopted into French through contact with Basque fishermen active in the [Gulf of St. Lawrence](/source/Gulf_of_St._Lawrence) from the 16th century onward, and later spread to other French-speaking regions.[2]

In [Newfoundland English](/source/Newfoundland_English), the term has developed local pronunciations such as *barshwa* and, more commonly, “barasway”.[3]

## Selected examples

- Dark Harbour, [Grand Manan](/source/Grand_Manan), [New Brunswick](/source/New_Brunswick)

- Barachois de Malbaie, [Gaspé Peninsula](/source/Gasp%C3%A9_Peninsula), Quebec

- [Grand Barachois, Miquelon Island](/source/Grand_Barachois%2C_Miquelon_Island)

- [Grand-Barachois](/source/Grand-Barachois%2C_New_Brunswick), [Westmorland County, New Brunswick](/source/Westmorland_County%2C_New_Brunswick)

- [Barachois Pond Provincial Park](/source/Barachois_Pond_Provincial_Park), western [Newfoundland and Labrador](/source/Newfoundland_and_Labrador)

- Big Barasway and Little Barasway, communities on Newfoundland’s [Cape Shore](/source/Cape_Shore)

- Several examples within [Prince Edward Island National Park](/source/Prince_Edward_Island_National_Park)

- Percival Bay (the “Big Barachois”), off the [Northumberland Strait](/source/Northumberland_Strait)

- Great Barachois, near Petit-de-Grat, Nova Scotia

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Deslarzes, K. J. P. and Evans, D., Smith, S. H.: '[Marine Biological Survey at United States Navy Support Facility, Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, August 2005](https://chip.chagos-trust.org/resources_archive/uploads/uploads/publications/NAVFAC%20Marine%20Survey.pdf)': Chagos Information Portal, Chagos Conservation Trust

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Barachois : origine du mot"](https://www.tlfq.org/saviez-vous-que/barachois). *Trésor de la langue française au Québec* (in French). Université Laval. Retrieved 3 January 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Barasway"](https://www.heritage.nf.ca/dictionary/azlist/pages/180.html). *Heritage Newfoundland & Labrador - Dictionary of Newfoundland English*. Retrieved 3 January 2026.

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