debris
UK /ˈdɛbɹi/ · US /dəˈbɹiː/ noun
- noun Rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed.
- noun Litter and discarded refuse.
- noun (geology) Large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.
Synonyms
detritus cultch crap dreck drek garbage gash junk litter pelf piece of crap piece of garbage piece of shit pile of crap pile of shit piece of trash rubbish refuse roughage service item dust rubble
Etymology
Borrowed from French débris, itself from dé- (“de-”) + bris (“broken, crumbled”), or from Middle French debriser (“to break apart”), from Old French debrisier, itself from de- + brisier (“to break apart, shatter, bust”), from Frankish *bristijan, *bristan, *brestan (“to break violently, shatter, bust”), from Proto-Germanic *brestaną (“to break, burst”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrest- (“to separate, burst”). Cognate with Old High German bristan (“to break asunder, burst”), Old English berstan (“to break, shatter, burst”), German bersten (“to burst”). More at burst.
Unadapted borrowing from French débris.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Broken and detached fragments, taken collectively; especially, fragments detached from a rock or mountain, and piled up at the base.
- noun Rubbish, especially such as results from the destruction of anything; remains; ruins.
Etymology [F., fr. pref. dé- (L. dis) + briser to break, shatter; perh. of Celtic origin.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “debris”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details