Join free

Waterloo

English · Español · Français · Deutsch · Italiano · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

Waterloo

  • /ˌwɔːtəˈluː/ UK
  • /ˌwɔtɚˈluː/ US
  • /ˈwɔtɚˌluː/ US
  • /ˌwɑtɚˈluː/ cot caught merger
  • /ˈwɑtɚˌluː/ cot caught merger

Rhymes with -uː

Where it comes from

From Middle Dutch, composed of water (“water”) + loo (“sacred wood, forest”). More at water, lea. cf. German Loh. Most places in English-speaking countries are named for the battle.

proper noun

  1. A village in Walloon Brabant, Belgium; the site of a major military battle in 1815.
  2. A battle fought at Waterloo, Belgium on June 18, 1815, resulting in the epic, final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte.

    Similar: Battle of Waterloo

  3. A rural community of Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia.
  4. A regional municipality and city in Ontario, Canada.
  5. A city in La Haute-Yamaska regional county municipality, Estrie, Quebec.
  6. A census-designated place in San Joaquin County, California.
  7. A city, the county seat of Monroe County, Illinois.
  8. A town in Grant Township and Smithfield Township, DeKalb County, Indiana.
  9. A township and unincorporated community therein, in Fayette County, Indiana.
  10. An unincorporated community in White River Township, Johnson County, Indiana.
  11. A city, the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa.
  12. A village and town, the county seat of Seneca County, New York.
  13. A town in Grant County, Wisconsin.
  14. A town and city therein, in Jefferson County, Wisconsin.
  15. A number of other townships in the United States, listed under Waterloo Township.
  16. A district and large railway terminus in central London, England, in the borough of Lambeth (OS grid ref TQ3180).
  17. A hamlet in Blisland parish, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SX1072).
  18. A village in Pilsley parish, North East Derbyshire district, Derbyshire, England (OS grid ref SK4163).
  19. A northern suburb of Poole, Dorset, England (OS grid ref SZ0094).
  20. A northern suburb of Ashton-under-Lyne, Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England (OS grid ref SD9300).
  21. Former name of Waterlooville, Hampshire, although Waterloo is still the name of a council ward in Waterlooville for Havant borough.
  22. A small suburb in south-west Blackburn, Blackburn with Darwen district, Lancashire, England (OS grid ref SD6625).
  23. A suburb of Crosby, Sefton borough, Merseyside, England (OS grid ref SJ3198).
  24. A small village in Hainford parish, Broadland district, Norfolk, England (OS grid ref TG2219).
  25. A hamlet in Gillingham parish, South Norfolk district, Norfolk (OS grid ref TM4293).
  26. A small village in Scole parish, South Norfolk district, Norfolk (OS grid ref TM1479).
  27. A hamlet in Whixall parish, Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ4933).
  28. An eastern suburb of Huddersfield, Kirklees borough, West Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE1716).
  29. A settlement near Broadford, Isle of Skye, Highland council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NG6623).
  30. A small suburb on the eastern outskirts of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NS8054).
  31. A hamlet north-west of Bankfoot, Perth and Kinross council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NO0636).
  32. A hamlet in Rudry community, Caerphilly borough, Wales (OS grid ref ST1988).
  33. A suburb of Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales (OS grid ref SM9703).
  34. A city in the Western Area of Sierra Leone.
  35. An inner southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales.
  36. A rural locality in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland.
  37. A settlement in Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area, South Australia.
  38. A locality in Huon Valley council area, southern Tasmania, Australia.
  39. A locality in Pyrenees Shire, Victoria.
  40. A small town in the Shire of Dardanup, Western Australia.
  41. A suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington region, New Zealand.
  42. A barangay of Matalom, Leyte, Philippines.

noun Waterloos

  1. Often in the term meet one's Waterloo: a notable and decisive defeat following an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult. He flung his dime at a newsboy, got his Express, propped his back against the truck, and was at once rapt in the account of his Waterloo as expanded by the ingenious press.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: montréal, toronto, kitchener, windsor, collapse, downfall, defeat, rout, debacle, undoing, ruin, shellacking, beating, catastrophe, annihilation, drubbing

Translations

Every language

name city in Ontario, Canada

한국어워털루 woteollu
中文滑鐵盧 /滑铁卢 Huátiělú
FrançaisWaterloo

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"Waterloo." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/waterloo. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Waterloo. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/waterloo

Chicago

"Waterloo." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/waterloo.

BibTeX
@misc{waterloo_2026,
  title = {Waterloo},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/waterloo},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}