To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. I have only heard "debris is/was" and if there are many, use "pieces/piles of debris are/were". Debris doesn't have a grammatical plural in English. 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”). It isn't possible to speak of "a single debris" or "a dozen debris. debris definition: Debris is defined as the remains of something broken, thrown away or destroyed. Why are the “hands” of a clock called “hands”? plural debris \ də- ˈbrēz , dā- ˈbrēz , ˈdā- ˌbrēz , British usually ˈde- (ˌ)brēz \ Definition of debris 1 : the remains of something broken down or destroyed digging through the storm's debris in search of survivors sifted through the debris of her broken marriage She informed me that "debri" is the singular form of "debris." Second, we always refer to it by a singular pronoun: "The debris is knee deep.
Utah woman dies while hiking during her Latter-day Saint mission in Switzerland. In the 19th century the science of geology began using the French word to refer in English to an accumulation of rock fragments. The words "beef," "pork," "mutton," and "poultry" are all of French origin, and the ancestors of these words were invariably used by the Normans to describe the types of meat brought to their tables as well as the animals providing the meat. The plural pronunciation is still used for the geological sense, but the everyday use of "debris" is in its noncount sense, and nowadays we rarely hear that final "s." Question: I have always wondered why the names for types of meat, like "beef' and "pork," are different from the names of the animals the meat comes from. 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”). If you want to talk about a lot of debris—or if you want to pick it up—you have to gather it into plural piles . the remains of anything broken down or destroyed; ruins; rubble: the debris of buildings after an air raid. If you want to talk about a lot of debris—or if you want to pick it up—you have to gather it into plural piles. Debris itself is a singular noun. "Debris," when pronounced with the "s" silent, is indeed a singular noun. site design / logo © 2020 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under cc by-sa. Stack Exchange network consists of 176 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Countable uncountable noun vs always singular noun, QGIS: create layout with one map its attribute table per feature. What's the difference between normal and reaction force? A trail runner stumbled upon a mother mountain lion and her kittens in Provo’s Slate Canyon. More at … Can the Heat Metal spell target a set of Dragon Scale Mail made from metallic dragon scales? NBA bubble was a success, but where will the league go from here? Debris doesn't have a grammatical plural in English.

Vote early, Roy, Cottonwood high schools close doors to in-person learning after COVID-19 outbreaks. Cognate with Old High German bristan (“to break asunder, burst”), Old English berstan (“to break, shatter, burst”). Geology . ‘The Kuiper belt is an icy disk of debris orbiting the sun, beyond Neptune, and is the original home of many comets.’ ‘Carbonaceous plant debris is concentrated in finely laminated silts and mudstones at the tops of some beds.’ ‘In any case, they've had a clean-up of natural debris and the sand is white and clean.’ What is the name of this post-apocalyptic story about a woman reminiscing? How to use debris in a sentence. Some are impacts from micrometeorites coming from the birth of the Solar System, and some can be attributed to paint flakes from spacecraft or other, A chemical analysis of impact crater residue allowed him to distinguish between impacts due to naturally occurring micrometeoroids and those due to artificial, The spherical wavefront of expanding gasses and, A shield would protect each community from meteors and. It was only after this second borrowing that the wider sense of "debris," referring literally to anything broken or destroyed, came into use in English. The plural form of debris is also debris . Learn more. rev 2020.10.13.37806, The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, English Language & Usage Stack Exchange works best with JavaScript enabled, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site, Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, Learn more about hiring developers or posting ads with us, Whether or not you use a plural verb, you need to put. What is the logic behind uncountable nouns? The noun space debris is uncountable. The names of familiar farm animals, "cow," "pig," "sheep," and "chicken," all have their roots in Old English. Find more words! "Debris," when pronounced with the "s" silent, is indeed a singular noun. It is also, in its usual sense, a "non-count" noun, which means that it has no plural form in that sense. I don't know what to do with it.". Best way to stick a very long Ethernet cable semi-permanently to walls? Collective nouns that define a set of inanimate objects (luggage, dinnerware) are also regularly singular, as are nouns that refer to noncountable masses of substances (bacon, lox).
The plural form of space debris is also space debris.

(The French word is derived from the Middle French verb "de-bris-er," which means "to break to pieces.") (La)TeX -- What does the '%' character do? Question: I have always wondered why the names for types of meat, like "beef' and "pork," are different from the names of the animals the meat comes from. [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine], https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=debris&oldid=60839607, English terms derived from Proto-Germanic, English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European, Requests for review of Hebrew translations, Requests for review of Italian translations, Requests for review of Korean translations, Requests for review of Spanish translations, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The plural form of space debris is also space debris. Thus, in "debris was scattered for miles by the storm," "debris" is a singular noun that refers to an undifferentiated mass of objects, the way words like "wreckage," "garbage" and "trash" do. Why is there a need for the concept of energy if we have the concept of momentum? Parentheticals - referential, and antecedent use of pronouns. You may be wondering how a grammarian can tell that debris is singular instead of plural. Find more words! What happened next became the longest six minutes of his life. How would a mute person take an oath of office in the United States? Up to the time of the Norman invasion in 1066, the ancestors of these words were used to describe both the animal and the meat it produced. This page was last edited on 12 October 2020, at 16:53. Would an evolutionary predecessor for winged quadrupeds start with four legs and gain wings? The solar maximum of 2000 also helped remove debris by expanding the outer atmosphere.

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