A kill is a body of water, most commonly a creek, but also a tidal inlet,

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

, or arm of the sea. The term is derived from the

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...

''kille'' (''kil'' in modern Dutch), meaning "riverbed" or "water channel".“kil” in The New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2005 It is found in areas of Dutch influence in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

' former North American colony of

New Netherland New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...

, primarily the Hudson and

Delaware Valley The Philadelphia metropolitan area, also known as Greater Philadelphia and informally called the Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia tri-state area, and locally and colloquially Philly–Jersey–Delaware, is a major metropolitan area in the Nor ...

s. Examples of the freestanding use of "kill" are: * Anthony Kill, in

Saratoga County, New York Saratoga County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, and is the fastest-growing county in Upstate New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the county's population was enumerated at 235,509, ...

which flows from Round Lake through the city of Mechanicville into the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

. * Arthur Kill and

Kill Van Kull __NOTOC__ The Kill Van Kull is a tidal strait between Staten Island, New York (state), New York, and Bayonne, New Jersey, Bayonne, New Jersey, in the United States. It is approximately long and wide and connects Newark Bay with Upper New York ...

, both separating

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, New York from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

* Batten Kill,

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

and New York * Bronx Kill between

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

and Randalls Island * Fresh Kills, New York *

Normans Kill The Normans Kill is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 creek in New York's Capital District located in Schenectady and Albany counties. It flows south ...

, an upper

tributary near

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

* Poesten Kill, a creek near

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

* Wynants Kill, another creek near Troy, New York *

West Kill The West Kill, an tributary of Schoharie Creek, flows through the town of Lexington, New York, United States, from its source on Hunter Mountain (New York), Hunter Mountain, the second-highest peak of the Catskill Mountains. Ultimately its wate ...

, a creek in

Greene County, New York Greene County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,931. Its county seat is Catskill. The county's name is in honor of the American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene. The c ...

, New York "Kill" is also joined with a noun to create a composite name for a place or body of water: * Catskill, New York *

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

, New York *

Catskill Creek Catskill Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed October 3, 2011 tributary of the Hudson River that drains the northeastern Catskill Mountains of the U.S. State of N ...

which flows from the Catskill Mountains, New York to the

. * Cobleskill, New York * Cresskill, New Jersey * Fishkill, New York * Kaaterskill Clove, a deep gorge, or valley, in New York's eastern Catskill Mountains *

Kaaterskill Creek Kaaterskill Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed October 3, 2011 tributary of Catskill Creek in Greene and Ulster counties in New York. Via Catskill Creek, it i ...

, a tributary of Catskill Creek *

Kaaterskill Falls Kaaterskill Falls is a two-stage waterfall on Spruce Creek (Kaaterskill Creek tributary), Spruce Creek in the eastern Catskill Mountains of New York (state), New York, between the Hamlet (place)#New York, hamlets of Haines Falls, New York, Haines ...

* Kaaterskill High Peak, one of the Catskill Mountains * Peekskill, New York * Poestenkill, New York *

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

* Spackenkill, New York *Tenakill, New Jersey * Raymondskill Falls, Pennsylvania * Wallkill, New York * Wynantskill, New York The single 'l' spelling of 'kil' is the norm in modern Dutch geographical names, e.g. Dordtsche Kil, Sluiskil, or Kil van Hurwenen. It can occasionally be found in North America.

References

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