debris

Meaning

  1. Rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed.
  2. Litter and discarded refuse.
  3. The ruins of a broken-down structure.
  4. Large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.

Frequency

C1
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈdɛbɹi/
Etymology

In summary

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.

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