# debris

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈdɛbɹi/ · frequency rank #8,022

## Definitions
1. Rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed.
2. Litter and discarded refuse.
3. The ruins of a broken-down structure.
4. Large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.

## Etymology
Borrowed from French débris, itself from dé- (“de-”) + bris (“broken, crumbled”), or from Middle French debriser (“to break apart”), from Old French debrisier, itself from de- + brisier (“to break apart, shatter, bust”), from Frankish *bristijan, *bristan, *brestan (“to break violently, shatter, bust”), from Proto-Germanic *brestaną (“to break, burst”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrest- (“to separate, burst”). Cognate with Old High German bristan (“to break asunder, burst”), Old English berstan (“to break, shatter, burst”), German bersten (“to burst”). More at burst.

## Easily confused with
- **debs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debris-vs-debs)
- **debts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debris-vs-debts)
- **Denis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debris-vs-denis)
- **Doris** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debris-vs-doris)
- **Dennis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debris-vs-dennis)
- **debuts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debris-vs-debuts)
- **Dubois** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debris-vs-dubois)
- **debit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debit-vs-debris)
- **Debra** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debra-vs-debris)
- **Debbie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debbie-vs-debris)

## Common misspellings (9)
`dberis`, `ddebris`, `debbris`, `debirs`, `debriss`, `debrris`, `debrsi`, `derbis`, `edbris`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/debris