Alluvial

adj, noun

adj, noun ·4 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A deposition of sediment over a long period of time by a river; an alluvial layer. countable
  2. 2
    Alluvial soil; specifically, in Australia, gold-bearing alluvial soil. countable, uncountable
Adjective
  1. 1
    Pertaining to the soil deposited by a stream. not-comparable

    "Soils are a prominent feature of floodplain environments, and we include them in this section because most of the available information on ancient soils pertains to alluvial examples, aside from those in Quaternary-Recent time."

Adjective
  1. 1
    of or relating to alluvium wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
estuarinefluvial

Example

More examples

"Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds."

Etymology

From Latin alluvius (“alluvial”), from alluviō (“an overflowing, inundation”), from alluō (“wash against”). By surface analysis, alluvium + -ial.

Related phrases

alluvial depositalluvial fanalluvial miningalluvial plain

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.