Placer

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpleɪsə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. A deposit of sand or gravel containing valuable minerals that can be extracted by washing
2. A location where valuable minerals are found mixed with loose sediment and can be extracted through washing methods
3. An area where alluvial deposits of precious materials such as gold are separated from their surrounding soil and gravel by water

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "placer" is that its English suffix probably has nothing to do with the familiar agent ending in "-er". Instead, the word is traced to American Spanish "placer", a term for a mineral-rich deposit in the gravel of a river or stream, which came from an earlier form "placel". That earlier form is apparently from an obsolete Portuguese word, "placel", so the path into English runs from Portuguese through Spanish, not directly from Latin. The English word is a compound of "place" and "-er", and the suffix is thought to mark association, so the sense is roughly "the place where gold lies". That fits the word's meaning: a stretch of ground where valuable metal has settled out of moving water over time. The sense came into English through mining talk, particularly from the gold fields of the American West.

Synonyms: miner, excavator, digger, prospector, gold panner