- 1碎屑、殘渣
Detritus is the leftover bits after something has been broken, worn, or used up — scraps, fragments, the mess that remains. After a storm you might see detritus along the road: twigs, plastic, torn paper. Scientists also use it for dead bits of plants and animals that settle on soil or the bottom of a pond. Though actually, in ordinary talk it is a slightly fancy stand-in for rubbish or debris. Debris often feels like a sudden wreck; detritus feels like what is left after wearing away, which fits the old idea of rubbing off. It is usually treated as a mass: detritus, not “a detritus” and not often “detrituses”.
組成A learned borrowing from Latin dētrītus, “(that which is) rubbed away”, from dēterō (to rub away): dē- (down, away) + the rubbing root. English kept the Latin shape, which is why it still looks and sounds rather school-like.
同家族的字
- detrimentsame Latin “rub away” root — harm as a wearing-down
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
detritusnoun/dɪˈtɹaɪ.təs/
- 1
geographygeologynatural-sciencesPieces of rock broken off by ice, glacier, or erosion.
- 2
biologyecologynatural-sciencesOrganic 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.
- 3
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?
- 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.
- 4
Rock consisting of accumulated debris from decayed rocks, like sand, that often is joined by cement.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。