erosion

CEFRC1

/ɪˈɹəʊʒən/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The gradual wearing away of soil, rock, or another material.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    The changing of a surface by mechanical action, friction, thermal expansion contraction, or impact.

Examples

  • Because of erosion, the trail is rocky and deep.

  • If the trees on that hill are cut down, you'll see erosion pretty quickly.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Also pronounced

  • /ɪˈɹoʊʒən/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The gradual loss of something as a result of an ongoing process.

  2. The result of having been worn away or eroded, as by a glacier on rock or the sea on a cliff face.

  3. Destruction by abrasive action of fluids.

More examples

In context

  • Father Ted: The cliffs were gone? How could they just disappear? Dougal: Erosion.

  • trademark erosion, caused by everyday use of the trademarked term

  • the erosion of a person's trust

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Coastal blank has gradually worn away the sandy cliffs.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle French erosion, from Latin ērōsiō (“eating away”), derived from ērōdō. The first known occurrence in English was in the 1541 translation by Robert Copland of Guy de Chauliac's medical text The Questyonary of Cyrurygens. Copland used erosion to describe how ulcers developed in the mouth. By 1774 erosion was used outside medical subjects. Oliver Goldsmith employed the term in the more contemporary geological context, in his book Natural History, with the quote : "Bounds are thus put to the erosion of the earth by water."