alluvial

English

WOTD – 20 June 2009

Etymology

From Latin alluvius (“alluvial”), from alluviō (“an overflowing, inundation”), from alluō (“wash against”). By surface analysis, alluvium +‎ -ial.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /əˈluː.vi.əl/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adjective

alluvial (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to the soil deposited by a stream.
   • 1992, Anna K. Behrensmeyer, Robert W. Hook, “Paleoenvironmental Contexts and Taphonomic Modes”, in Terrestrial Ecosystems through Time, page 35:

     Soils are a prominent feature of floodplain environments, and we include them in this section because most of the available information on ancient soils pertains to alluvial examples, aside from those in Quaternary-Recent time.

Coordinate terms

• colluvial
• fluvial

Derived terms

• alluvial deposit
• alluvial fan
• alluvially
• alluvial mining
• alluvial plain

Related terms

• alluvium

Translations

pertaining to the soil deposited by a stream

Bulgarian: нано́сен (bg) (nanósen) Catalan: al·luvial Chinese: Mandarin: 冲积 (zh) (chōngjī) Czech: náplavový, aluviální (cs) Dutch: alluviaal (nl) Finnish: liete- (fi), alluviaalinen French: alluvial (fr) German: alluvial (de), angeschwemmt (de), abgelagert (de) Irish: glárach Italian: alluvionale (it) Macedonian: наносен m (nanosen) Polish: aluwialny (pl) Portuguese: aluvial Russian: наносно́й (ru) (nanosnój), аллювиа́льный (ru) (alljuviálʹnyj) Scottish Gaelic: alùbhiach Spanish: aluvial, aluvional Swedish: alluvial (sv) Welsh: llifwaddodol

Noun

alluvial (countable and uncountable, plural alluvials)

1. (countable) A deposition of sediment over a long period of time by a river; an alluvial layer.
2. Alluvial soil; specifically, in Australia, gold-bearing alluvial soil.

Usage notes

• (deposition of sediment): The noun is normally used in the plural by engineers who recover valuable minerals from these layers.

Related terms

• alluvium

Translations

deposition of sediment — see alluvium

See also

• deltaic

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

alluvial (feminine alluviale, masculine plural alluviaux, feminine plural alluviales)

1. alluvial

Further reading

• “alluvial”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

alluvial (strong nominative masculine singular alluvialer, not comparable)

1. alluvial

Declension

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist alluvial	sie ist alluvial	es ist alluvial	sie sind alluvial
strong declension (without article)	nominative	alluvialer	alluviale	alluviales	alluviale
	genitive	alluvialen	alluvialer	alluvialen	alluvialer
	dative	alluvialem	alluvialer	alluvialem	alluvialen
	accusative	alluvialen	alluviale	alluviales	alluviale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der alluviale	die alluviale	das alluviale	die alluvialen
	genitive	des alluvialen	der alluvialen	des alluvialen	der alluvialen
	dative	dem alluvialen	der alluvialen	dem alluvialen	den alluvialen
	accusative	den alluvialen	die alluviale	das alluviale	die alluvialen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein alluvialer	eine alluviale	ein alluviales	(keine) alluvialen
	genitive	eines alluvialen	einer alluvialen	eines alluvialen	(keiner) alluvialen
	dative	einem alluvialen	einer alluvialen	einem alluvialen	(keinen) alluvialen
	accusative	einen alluvialen	eine alluviale	ein alluviales	(keine) alluvialen

Positive forms of alluvial (uncomparable)