alluvium
a deposit of sand, mud, etc., formed by flowing water.
the sedimentary matter deposited thus within recent times, especially in the valleys of large rivers.
Origin of alluvium
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use alluvium in a sentence
In Africa, it is the low alluvia of rivers that favour the Negro configuration.
The Ethnology of the British Colonies and Dependencies | Robert Gordon LathamThen comes the Negro down in the alluvia, with dark skin, woolly hair, and prognathous development.
History of the Negro Race in America From 1619 to 1880. Vol 1 | George W. WilliamsBut it is not often that borings come to be made in river alluvia.
The Geological Story of the Isle of Wight | J. Cecil HughesWe see clearly the alluvia of two streams converging from right and left, and uniting to pass to the sea through Brading Harbour.
The Geological Story of the Isle of Wight | J. Cecil HughesThe source of the elements which compose the Pampean alluvia is very uncertain.
The Argentine Republic | Pierre Denis
British Dictionary definitions for alluvium
/ (əˈluːvɪəm) /
a fine-grained fertile soil consisting of mud, silt, and sand deposited by flowing water on flood plains, in river beds, and in estuaries
Origin of alluvium
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for alluvium
[ ə-lōō′vē-əm ]
Sand, silt, clay, gravel, or other matter deposited by flowing water, as in a riverbed, floodplain, delta, or alluvial fan. Alluvium is generally considered a young deposit in terms of geologic time.
Other words from alluvium
- alluvial adjective
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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