sediment

[ noun sed-uh-muhnt; verb sed-uh-ment ]

noun

1. the matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid; lees; dregs.
2. Geology. mineral or organic matter deposited by water, air, or ice.

verb (used with object)

1. to deposit as sediment.

verb (used without object)

1. to form or deposit sediment.

sediment

/ ˌsɛdɪˈmɛntəs; ˈsɛdɪmənt /

noun

1. matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid
2. material that has been deposited from water, ice, or wind

sediment

/ sĕd′ə-mənt /

1. Geology.
   Solid fragmented material, such as silt, sand, gravel, chemical precipitates, and fossil fragments, that is transported and deposited by water, ice, or wind or that accumulates through chemical precipitation or secretion by organisms, and that forms layers on the Earth's surface. Sedimentary rocks consist of consolidated sediment.
2. Particles of solid matter that settle out of a suspension to the bottom of the liquid.

Derived Forms

• sedimentous, adjective

Other Words From

• sedi·mentous adjective
• self-sedi·mented adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sediment¹

1540–50; < Latin sedimentum, equivalent to sedi- (combining form of sedēre to sit ¹, settle) + -mentum -ment

Word History and Origins

Origin of sediment¹

C16: from Latin sedimentum a settling, from sedēre to sit

Example Sentences

Unlike today’s earthworms, these 1-centimeter fossils, called Uncus dzaugisi, lack any segments and had an outer coat stiff enough to keep them from being completely flattened as sediments accumulated on top of them.

From Science Magazine

"The layer where we found Uncus is particularly exciting because the sediment grains are so small that we really see all the details of the fossils preserved there."

From Science Daily

One candidate site is in Tibet, Dong says, where sediment cores “could offer a record of the whole process of formation of the Tibetan Plateau.”

From Science Magazine

But in the sediment core, the amount of charcoal debris—an indicator of fire burning nearby plants—more than doubled earlier than that time, starting about 41,600 years ago.

From Science Magazine

To remedy that problem, he and his collaborators developed a process for filtering intact cells out of a mixture, leaving behind eDNA genetic fragments left from dead cells in the sediment.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• debris
• powder
• silt
• trash
• waste