Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream. When Arab speakers live in a land with regular rivers—notably during Arab rule in the Iberian Al-Andalus—”wadi” might also be applied to these. For example, the name of the Spanish river Guadalquivir comes from the Arabic al-wādi al-kabīr (الوادي الكبير), ‘The Great River’.
