Detritus
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Pieces of rock broken off by ice, glacier, or erosion. countable, usually
- 2 loose material (stone fragments and silt etc.) that is worn away from rocks wordnet
- 3 Organic waste material from decomposing dead plants or animals. uncountable, usually
"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."
- 4 the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up wordnet
- 5 Any debris or fragments of disintegrated material. broadly, uncountable, usually
"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?"
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- 6 Rock consisting of accumulated debris from decayed rocks, like sand, that often is joined by cement. uncountable, usually
Example
More examples"Plants' source of nutrients is the soil, and the most nutrient rich soil is detritus, a stew of decaying organic matter from a variety of sources."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin dētrītus (“(that which is) rubbed away”), from dēterō (“rub away”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.