accretion

Definition

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.

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.

Example Sentences

• "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."
• "The immense accretion of flesh which had descended on her in middle life like a flood of lava on a doomed city had changed her from a plump active little woman with a neatly-turned foot and ankle into something as vast and august as a natural phenomenon."
• "Near-synonym: accumulation"

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