Accretion

Quick meaning: Accretion is a noun meaning (uncountable) (Gradual) increase by an external addition of matter; (countable) an instance of this.

Meaning

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

More Meanings

1. (uncountable, also figurative) Followed by of: external addition of matter to a thing which causes it to grow, especially in amount or size.
2. (uncountable) The process of separate particles aggregating or coalescing together; concretion; (countable) a thing formed in this manner.
3. (countable, chiefly figurative) Something gradually added to or growing on a thing externally.
4. (uncountable, also figurative) 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.
5. (inheritance law, uncountable) 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.
6. (property law, uncountable) 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.

Example Sentences

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.

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.

Word Forms

• accretions

Synonyms for accretion

Depending on context, synonyms include accrescence, accumulation, accrual, accruer.

Antonyms for accretion

Common opposites include nonaccretion.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include accumulation, buildup, accrual, build-up, accumulate, growth.

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