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accretion

noun
/əˈkɹiːʃn̩/UK/əˈkɹiʃən/US

Etymology

PIE word *h₂éd Learned borrowing from Latin accrētiō (“increase, increment”) + English -ion (suffix forming nouns denoting actions or processes, or their results). Accrētiō is derived from accrēscō (“to grow, increase”) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns denoting actions or processes, or their results); and accrēscō is from ac- (a variant of ad-, prefix meaning ‘to’, or having an intensifying effect) + crēscō (“to grow; to increase”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- (“to cause to grow; to grow; to nourish”)). Doublet of accrue, crescent, and increase.

  1. derived from *ḱer-✻ — “to cause to grow; to grow; to nourish”
  2. learned borrowing from accrētiō

Definitions

  1. Increase by natural growth, especially the gradual increase of organic bodies by the…

    Increase by natural growth, especially the gradual increase of organic bodies by the internal addition of matter; organic growth; also, the amount of such growth.

    • Warwick was unable to perceive much change in the market-house. […] There might have been a slight accretion of the moss and lichen on the shingled roof.

  2. (Gradual) increase by an external addition of matter

    (Gradual) increase by an external addition of matter; (countable) an instance of this.

    • Near-synonym: accumulation
    • A mineral augments not by growth, but by accretion.
    • […] Plants doe nouriſh; Inanimate Bodies doe not: They haue an Accretion, but no Alimentation.

  3. Followed by of

    Followed by of: external addition of matter to a thing which causes it to grow, especially in amount or size.

    • [W]hile ſome fevv grevv rich by turning Money in their ovvn Banks, there vvas a falſe Appearance of VVealth vvithin, but no Accretion of Riches from abroad.
  4. ›+ 4 more definitions

    1. The process of separate particles aggregating or coalescing together

      The process of separate particles aggregating or coalescing together; concretion; (countable) a thing formed in this manner.

      • The accretion of particles forms a solid mass.
      • [T]he vvhole Country of Holland ſeems to be an Accretion partly by the Sea, partly by the River Rhine.
      • She had no fear of the shadows; her sole idea seemed to be to shun mankind—or rather that cold accretion called the world, which, so terrible in the mass, is so unformidable, even pitiable, in its units.

    2. Something gradually added to or growing on a thing externally.

      • accretion of ice
      • [T]hoſe places, vvhich vvere formerly filled vvith VVood, have buried the fallen Trees three, four, or five foot deep in the ground, by an accretion or cover of Earth, derived to them ſometimes by Alluvions or Floods, […]

    3. Increase in property by the addition of other property to it (for example, gain of land…

      Increase in property by the addition of other property to it (for example, gain of land by alluvion (“the deposition of sediment by a river or sea”) or dereliction (“recession of water from the usual watermark”), or entitlement to the products of the property such as interest on money); or by the property owner acquiring another person’s ownership rights; accession; (countable) an instance of this.

    4. Increase of an inheritance to an heir or legatee due to the share of a co-heir or…

      Increase of an inheritance to an heir or legatee due to the share of a co-heir or co-legatee being added to it, because the latter person is legally unable to inherit the share.

The neighborhood

Derived

accretional, accretionally, accretionary, accretion disc, accretion disk, accretion-powered pulsar, accretion shock, coaccretion, co-accretion, hyperaccretion, nonaccretion, oligarchic accretion, reaccretion

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for accretion. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA