Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
silt [silt] ExamplesWord Origin noun
- earthy matter, fine sand, or the like carried by moving or running water and deposited as a sediment.
verb (used without object)
- to become filled or choked up with silt.
verb (used with object)
- to fill or choke up with silt.
Origin of silt 1400–50; late Middle English cylte gravel, perhaps orig. salty deposit; compare Old English unsylt unsalted, unseasoned, sylting seasoning, syltan to salt, season, Norwegian sylt salty swamp, German Sülze salt marsh, brineRelated formssil·ta·tion, nounsilt·y, adjectivede·silt, verb (used with object)Can be confusedsand sediment silt Examples from the Web for siltation Historical Examples of siltation
Two of these stations had turbid water and all suffered from siltation.
Fishes of Chautauqua, Cowley and Elk Counties, Kansas
Artie L. Metcalf
British Dictionary definitions for siltation silt noun
- a fine deposit of mud, clay, etc, esp one in a river or lake
verb
- (usually foll by up) to fill or become filled with silt; choke
Derived Formssiltation, nounsilty, adjectiveWord Origin for silt C15: of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian, Danish sylt salt marsh; related to Old High German sulza salt marsh; see salt Word Origin and History for siltation silt n.
mid-15c., originally “sediment deposited by seawater,” probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. Norwegian and Danish sylt “salt marsh”), or from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch silte, sulte “salt marsh, brine,” from Proto-Germanic *sultjo- (cf. Old English sealt, Old High German sulza “saltwater,” German Sulze “brine”), from PIE *sal- (see salt (n.)).
silt v.
“to become choked with silt” (of river channels, harbors, etc.), 1799, from silt (n.). Related: Silted; silting.
siltation in Science silt [sĭlt]
- A sedimentary material consisting of grains or particles of disintegrated rock, smaller than sand and larger than clay. The diameter of the particles ranges from 0.0039 to 0.0625 mm. Silt is often found at the bottom of bodies of water where it accumulates slowly by settling through the water.