luto-, lut-, luv-, lu-

1. To purify, to separate, or to remove a substance or mixture by washing and settling: Joe, the miner, was elutriating the gravel mixture in order to remove the gold particles that had settled in the container that he was using.
2. To wash away the lighter or finer particles of a material: Gerhardt elutriated the finer soil from the mixture of gravel and dirt material.

A method of removing organisms from a narrow space in a rock or soil by cleansing: The elutriation process was going on with a continuous flushing of water of the sediment that was near the large stones.

1. Composed of or relating to fine soil material that has been deposited by the wind: The eluvial soil that was blown by the storm onto the cars, store windows, etc. was washed off the next day.
2. Dirt that has lost soil particles because of wind or washing by water: The agronomist, Mr. Younge, was checking the eluvial contents of the top layer of the farmer's mineral particles that were mixed with organic matter to determine if it would be worth trying to grow crops there.

The leached (emptied or drained) upper part of a soil profile: The eluvial layer that lost the essential soil minerals from its light sandy soils caused by a year of excessive rain.

A mineral deposit concentrated near a decomposed outcrop of the source and deposited by rain wash, rather than by stream action: Tom, the geologist, determined that the eluvial placer had an accumulation of valuable minerals that were formed by a gravity separation during the sedimentary processes of precipitation.

When there are eluvial placers full of heavy minerals, they become concentrated in streams, beaches, and residual gravels, and form placer deposits that include gold, platinum, cassiterite (source of tin), magnetite (ore of iron), chromite (chromium ore), ilmenite (source of titanium), rutile (another source of titanium), native copper, zircon (bluish-white gems), monazite (rare-earth elements), and various kinds of gemstones.

1. The movement of soil material from one place to another within the soil, when there is an excess of rainfall that is much greater than evaporation: Eluviation may take place downward or sidewards depending on the water movements.
2. The translocation of suspended or dissolved soil material that exists as a result of the action of water: When nature causes the removal of substances with water, they are termed leaching liquids; that is, they are dissolved by passing out by means of percolating or passing through porous substances or small holes; however, eluviation differs from leaching in that it affects suspended, not dissolved, material and it usually results only in the movement of the material from one soil height to a different level.

1. Fine soil materials that have been moved and deposited by the wind: The new eluvia of soil, dust, and sand were produced by the wind storms that swept across the area during the last two days.
2. An accumulation of residual rock debris formed in a place by weathering and disintegration: If the eluvium of erosion exceeds the rate of soil formation, then that part of the country will become infertile.

That which cannot be washed away: It seems fair to say that there are illutible streets that can endure downpours because they are composed of concrete.

Relating to the process of soil horizon or other material added to or transported by suspended minerals, clays, and very tiny particles of minerals that have filtered down from an upper level: The geographical area had several examples of illuvial levels of earth.

As the professor of geography, Dr. Anderson, was examining the soil contents in the area, he found that there were more illuvial levels than he had seen in any other place.

The accumulation in a lower soil layer of materials consisting of soluble or suspended minerals, clays, salts, and colloids (very tiny particles of minerals) that have filtrated down from an upper level: Some gold prospectors were checking out the illuviations in the area to see if there were any deposits of gold in the geologically leached minerals.

The material percolated by physical or chemical processes from an upper soil stratification and redeposited in a lower level: The illuvium was removed from the top soil layer by precipitation and deposited into a lower ground layer.

A foot bath or the cleansing of feet: The woman's mother went to a podiatrist several times to have a series of pediluvia to treat her feet because of the pain that made it almost impossible for her to walk.

Some Christian organizations use the pediluvium as a religious rite as indicated in the book of John 13:1-17 of the Bible.

1. A reference to anyone, or anything, that existed or occurred after the Biblical Flood: After the downpour subsided and the ark rested on Mount Ararat, Noah tested the postdiluvian conditions by releasing a raven and then a dove, which brought back an olive branch; seven days later, he sent out another dove, that did not return.
2. In geology, relating to a period after deposits of earth, etc. have been produced by a flood: The postdiluvial conditions after the deluge of very heavy rain resulted in significant damage to many homes and other buildings.

A reference to that which existed or was taking place after the Biblical Flood: When a dove was released during the postdiluvian period again, a week after the first time, it returned with a fresh olive leaf in its beak, which was an indication that the postdiluvian inundation had diminished.

1. The period after a flooding of an area: The postdiluvian, that took place after the heavy rain and which affected many families along the river, fortunately was not very destructive.
2. The time after the flood as indicated in the Bible: According to the Bible, it took 150 days for the postdiluvian to take place before the water dropped low enough to let the ark with Noah and the others come to rest on a mountain in the region of Armenia known as Ararat.