detritus

See also: détritus

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin detritus (“the act of rubbing away”), from dēterō (“rub away”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈtɹaɪtəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

detritus (usually uncountable, plural detritus or detrita)

1. (countable, chiefly geological) pieces of rock broken off by ice, glacier, or erosion.
2. (biology) Organic waste material from decomposing dead plants or animals.
3. Debris or fragments of disintegrated material.

   2001. "But of course: no clutter. No newspapers, no renegade scraps of domestic detritus, no rubber bands, paper clips, coupons, pens or pencils, notebooks, magazines. No knives. Where were the knives?" — Chip Kidd. The Cheese Monkeys

Derived terms

• detrital / detritic
• detritivore
• zoodetritus

Translations

geology: pieces of rock broken off

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 岩屑 (zh) (yán xiè)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Galician: detrito (gl) m
• Russian: детри́т (ru) m (detrít)

biology: organic waste material

• Finnish: detritus (fi), karike (fi)
• Galician: detrito (gl) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: детри́т (ru) m (detrít)

debris or fragments of disintegrated material

• Catalan: detritus m, detrit m
• Esperanto: rubo
• Finnish: detritus (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: strāgēs f
• Russian: обломки (ru) pl (oblomki), осколки (ru) pl (oskolki)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: afval (nl), puin (nl)
• French: détritus (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: detrito (es) m

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Latin

Etymology

From dēterō (“rub away”), from dē (“away”) + terō (“rub”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /deːˈtriː.tus/, [d̪eːˈt̪riːt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /deˈtri.tus/, [d̪eˈt̪riːt̪us]

Participle

dētrītus (feminine dētrīta, neuter dētrītum); first/second-declension participle

1. rubbed away, worn away, worn out, having been rubbed away
2. (figuratively) diminished in force, lessened, weakened, impaired, having been weakened
3. (figuratively) worn out, trite, hackneyed, having been worn out

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	dētrītus	dētrīta	dētrītum		dētrītī	dētrītae	dētrīta
Genitive	dētrītī	dētrītae	dētrītī		dētrītōrum	dētrītārum	dētrītōrum
Dative	dētrītō		dētrītō		dētrītīs
Accusative	dētrītum	dētrītam	dētrītum		dētrītōs	dētrītās	dētrīta
Ablative	dētrītō	dētrītā	dētrītō		dētrītīs
Vocative	dētrīte	dētrīta	dētrītum		dētrītī	dētrītae	dētrīta

Noun

dētrītus m (genitive dētrītūs); fourth declension

1. The act of rubbing away

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	dētrītus	dētrītūs
Genitive	dētrītūs	dētrītuum
Dative	dētrītuī	dētrītibus
Accusative	dētrītum	dētrītūs
Ablative	dētrītū	dētrītibus
Vocative	dētrītus	dētrītūs

Related terms

• dēterō
• dētrīmentōsus
• dētrīmentum

Descendants

• English: detritus
• French: détritus
• Italian: detrito

• Portuguese: detrito
• Russian: детрит (detrit)
• Spanish: detrito

References

• “detritus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “detritus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• detritus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

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Spanish

Noun

detritus m (plural detritus)

1. detritus