érodés

Érodés is the masculine plural form of the French adjective érodé, meaning eroded. In geology, geography, and related fields, érodés is used to describe rock, terrain, or landscapes that have undergone noticeable erosion. Because it is an inflected form, its exact meaning depends on the gender and number of the noun it modifies; for masculine plural nouns, the form érodés is used, while feminine plural nouns take érodées.

In practice, the term appears in descriptive passages such as “des reliefs érodés par l’érosion marine” or “pentes érodés par le vent,” where it functions as a concise way to indicate that erosion has significantly shaped the feature. The word is most commonly encountered in French-language scientific writing and field notes, and it is often used alongside other geomorphological descriptors like weathering, transport, and deposition to convey the history of a landscape.

Etymology traces érodé to the verb éroder, which comes from Latin erodere, meaning to gnaw away or wear down. The form érodés reflects regular French agreement rules for masculine plural adjectives. While the term is straightforward linguistically, its use as a standalone noun is rare; it more normally serves as an attribute in phrases describing eroded features.

See also: erosion, weathering, geomorphology, French geological terminology.