Meaning

noun (geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)

noun condition in which the earth's surface is worn away by the action of water and wind

noun a gradual decline of something

originFrom Middle French erosion, from Latin ērōsiō (“eating away”), derived from ērōdō. The first known occurrence in English was in the 1541 translation by Robert Copland of Guy de Chauliac's medical text The Questyonary of Cyrurygens. Copland used erosion to describe how ulcers developed in the mouth. By 1774 erosion was used outside medical subjects. Oliver Goldsmith employed the term in the more…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0