detritus

[dih-trahy-tuhs]

noun

1. rock in small particles or other material worn or broken away from a mass, as by the action of water or glacial ice.

2. any disintegrated material; debris.

detritus

/ dɪˈtraɪtəs /

noun

1. a loose mass of stones, silt, etc, worn away from rocks

2. an accumulation of disintegrated material or debris

3. the organic debris formed from the decay of organisms

detritus

1. Loose fragments, such as sand or gravel, that have been worn away from rock.

2. Matter produced by the decay or disintegration of an organic substance.

Other Word Forms

• detrital adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of detritus¹

1785–95; < French détritus < Latin: a rubbing away, equivalent to dētrī-, variant stem of dēterere to wear down, rub off ( de- de- + terere to rub) + -tus suffix of v. action

Word History and Origins

Origin of detritus¹

C18: from French détritus, from Latin dētrītus a rubbing away; see _detriment

Example Sentences

A picture of an exhausted Sue, sat post-concert among the detritus left on the Wembley turf, captures the moment perfectly.

From BBC

Photos show the eerie aftermath: the bunk beds mud-caked and toppled, the detritus of a summer camp cut tragically short.

From BBC

I met him a couple of years ago at my local Home Depot, and have hired him a few times to haul away household detritus.

From Los Angeles Times

To keep things clean, there’s a wooden broom he can sweep out leaves and other detritus.

From Los Angeles Times

“When the productivity of the surface water changes, that affects the amount of detritus, or dead material, that sinks to the deep sea floor that is the food supply for those organisms,” Drazen said.

From Salon

Related Words

• rubble