erosion
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
See also erosión
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Latin erosio, "eating away", derived from erodere, possibly via erosionem and Middle French erosion.
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."
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
|
Singular |
Plural |
erosion (plural erosions)
- (uncountable) The result of having been being worn away or eroded, as by a glacier on rock or the sea on a cliff face
- (uncountable) The changing of a surface by mechanical action, friction, thermal expansion or contraction, or impact.
- (uncountable) Destruction by abrasive action of fluids.
- (mathematics, image processing) One of two fundamental operations in morphological image processing from which all other morphological operations are derived.
- (dentistry) Loss of tooth enamel due to non-bacteriogenic chemical processes.
- (medicine) A shallow ulceration or lesion, usually involving skin or epithelial tissue.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
the result of having being eroded
the changing of a surface by mechanical action
destruction by abrasive action of fluids
