Dictionary

detritus en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdɛ.tɹɪ.dɪs/
• /dɪˈtɹaɪ.təs/
• (US) audio

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin dētrītus (“(that which is) rubbed away”), from dēterō (“rub away”).

Meanings

1. (countable, usually) Pieces of rock broken off by ice, glacier, or erosion.
2. (uncountable, usually) Organic waste material from decomposing dead plants or animals.
   • Woody detritus is an important component of forested ecosystems. It can reduce erosion and affects soil development, stores nutrients and water, provides a major source of energy and nutrients, and serves as a seedbed for plants and as a major habitat for decomposers and hetereotrophs. 2009, Christian Wirth, Gerd Gleixner, Martin Heimann, Old-Growth Forests: Function, Fate and Value, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 159:
3. (broadly, uncountable, usually) Any debris or fragments of disintegrated material.
   • 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? 2001, Chip Kidd, The Cheese Monkeys:
   • The cutting head removes any chips out of the railhead and restores the required surface shape. The trains also clear up their own detritus as they travel. Neither milling chips nor grinding dust remain on the track. 2022 September 7, Tom Allett, “At the cutting edge of NR's track work”, in RAIL, number 965, page 39:
4. (uncountable, usually) Rock consisting of accumulated debris from decayed rocks, like sand, that often is joined by cement.

Forms

Deriveds

detrital · zoodetritus · phytodetritus · detriticolous · detritusphere · biodetritus · detritophage · detritic · microdetritus · detrivore · detritivorous · detritivore

Relateds

detrimental · detriment

Translations (36)

ru детри́т (biology: organic waste material) · de Detritus (biology: organic waste material) · sv detritus (geology: pieces of rock broken off) · cmn 岩屑 (geology: pieces of rock broken off) · pl detrytus (geology: pieces of rock broken off) · sv detritus (biology: organic waste material) · ca detritus (geology: pieces of rock broken off) · ru обломки (debris or fragments of disintegrated material) · gl detrito (geology: pieces of rock broken off) · ru осколки (debris or fragments of disintegrated material) · fi detritus (biology: organic waste material) · mi toenga whakapopo (biology: organic waste material) · he רָקָב (biology: organic waste material) · de Mulm (biology: organic waste material) · sv detritus (debris or fragments of disintegrated material) · de Trümmer (debris or fragments of disintegrated material) · mi pōpopo (biology: organic waste material) · de Detritus (debris or fragments of disintegrated material) · de Gesteinschutt (geology: pieces of rock broken off) · fr détritus (debris or fragments of disintegrated material) · ca detritus (debris or fragments of disintegrated material) · ca detrit (debris or fragments of disintegrated material) · de Verwitterungsmaterial (biology: organic waste material) · de Detritus (geology: pieces of rock broken off) · la strāgēs (debris or fragments of disintegrated material) · fi karike (biology: organic waste material) · de Geröll (geology: pieces of rock broken off) · ga turscar (biology: organic waste material) · pl detrytus (biology: organic waste material) · gl detrito (biology: organic waste material) · ca detritus (biology: organic waste material) · fr détritus (biology: organic waste material) · de Überrest (debris or fragments of disintegrated material) · eo rubo (debris or fragments of disintegrated material) · ru детри́т (geology: pieces of rock broken off) · fi detritus (debris or fragments of disintegrated material)