Screes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A mass of loose stones that has accumulated on a slope or hillside, often resulting from erosion or weathering processes
2. A collection of small, fragmented rocks typically found on a steep incline, formed through natural geological actions
3. A type of rocky terrain consisting of scattered pebbles or stones, commonly occurring in mountainous regions due to natural decay

Etymology: "Screes" is the plural of "scree," and the plural is the form that gave the singular its existence. The noun most likely arrived as a back-formation: speakers took "screes," which looked like a plural, and created a singular "scree" from it. The plural itself traces to Old Norse "skriða," meaning "landslide" or "landslip," a word that also carries the sense of a steep hillside of gravel and loose stones. Its Old Norse root is linked to "skríða," "to glide," which goes back to a Proto-Germanic verb meaning "to crawl" or "to walk," reflecting the way loose debris slides downhill. The word may have been shaped by Scandinavian influence on northern English dialects, where the sound of rocks shifting and sliding fits the image of the noun. Some scholars consider a connection to an older English word related to "shriek" and "screech" possible, though it is not certain. Other possibilities, such as a link to "screed" or "screen," have been proposed, but none is firmly established.

Synonyms: rockslides, debris, talus