denudation

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   geology: the wearing away of rock and soil by erosion and weathering, leaving a surface exposed

   Repeated glaciation and river erosion caused extensive denudation of the mountain range.

2. 2
   noun

   formal: the act of stripping away a covering or making something bare

   The storm caused the denudation of vegetation along the exposed coast.

Borrowed through French dénudation from Latin denudatio 'a laying bare,' from denudare 'to strip naked.' Denudare combines de- in an intensive sense with nudus 'naked.' Geologists adopted the term for processes that strip material from the land surface.

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