Regolith
//ˈɹɛɡəlɪθ// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The layer of loose rock, dust, sand, and soil, resting on the bedrock, that constitutes the surface layer of most dry land on Earth, the Moon, and other large solid aggregated celestial objects. Submarine regolith also exists. countable, uncountable
"The structures on the surface were gone from normal view, pulverized into regolith across a span of aeons."
Example
More examples"She leads a team that will study samples of regolith, or Moon soil, collected in 1972 near the Apollo 17 landing site of Taurus-Littrow Valley on the eastern rim of Mare Serenitatis."
Etymology
Irregular formation from Ancient Greek ῥῆγος (rhêgos, “rug, blanket”) + -lith (from λίθος (líthos, “stone”)).
More for "regolith"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.