ablation
noun/əˈbleɪ.ʃn̩/ · /æbˈleɪ.ʃn̩/
Etymology From Late Middle English ablacioun (“removal”), from Late Latin ablātiō (“a taking away”), from auferō (“to take away, carry off, withdraw, remove”) + -tiō (“-tion”, nominal suffix). Doublet of ablatio. Compare French ablation. By surface analysis, ablat(e) + -ion.
Obsolete A carrying or taking away; removal.
› The progressive removal of material by any…
Geography, Geology, Natural sciences, Sciences The removal of a glacier by melting and evaporation; the lowering of a land surface by any of several means, as in wind erosion or mass wasting.
- “We’re just seeing enormous ablation, ice melt rates and snow melt rates all over the Alps,” Glamos network chief Matthias Huss told AFP on Friday, as multiple Swiss weather stations registered new all-time records.2026 June 27, “Snow and ice on Swiss glaciers melting at alarming rate amid heatwave, expert says”, in The Guardian, sourced from Agence France-Presse, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 Jun 2026:
Climatology, Meteorology, Natural sciences, Sciences The depletion of surface snow and ice from a spacecraft or meteorite through melting and evaporation caused by aerodynamic heating.
- Derived terms
- ablational, ablation study, ablative, aquablation, atheroablation, chemoablation, cryoablation, cycloablation, cytoablation, electroablation, hemiablation, immunoablation, locoablation, lymphoablation, myeloablation, periablation, photoablation, postablation, preablation, radioablation, reablation, rotablation, thermoablation