Inundation

noun

/ɪˌnʌn.ˈdeɪ.ʃən/

The overflow of water onto land that is normally dry, caused by the rising and spreading of a river, sea, or other water body during a flood event.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The annual inundation of the Brahmaputra valley, while devastating to life and property, simultaneously replenishes the alluvial soils on which the region's agrarian economy depends — a paradox that any disaster-management framework must reconcile.

Synonyms

flooddelugefloodingsubmergenceoverflowtorrent

Antonyms

droughtdrainagedesiccationdryness

🌱 Word Family

inundate (v), inundated (adj), inundating (v pres.p), undulate (v, cognate), undulation (n)

🔡 Root

Latin inundātiō = a flood; inundāre = to overflow; in- = into; unda = wave

📜 Etymology

From Old French inundacion ("flood"), from Latin inundātiō ("a flood"), from inundāre ("to overflow"), from in- ("into, upon") + undāre ("to flow"), from unda ("a wave"); attested in English from the 15th century.

🧠 Memory Hook

Latin root unda = 'a wave'; an in-UND-ation is when waves come IN over the land — picture water surging IN and UNDer everything.

⚠️ Disaster Management 📖 Seen in: Floods, Droughts & Cyclones — India's ...

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