abrasion

Meaning

Noun

• The act of abrading, wearing, or rubbing off; the wearing away by friction.
• The substance thus rubbed off; debris.
• The effect of mechanical erosion of rock, especially a river bed, by rock fragments scratching and scraping it.
• An abraded, scraped, or worn area.
• A superficial wound caused by scraping; an area of skin where the cells on the surface have been scraped or worn away.
• The wearing away of the surface of the tooth by chewing.

Origin

• First attested in 1656. From French abrasion (attested since 1611), from Medieval Latin abrasio ("a scraping"), from Latin abrādō ("scrape off"). See also abrade.