noun
- an increase by natural growth or by gradual external addition; growth in size or extent.
- the result of this process.
- an added part; addition: The last part of the legend is a later accretion.
- the growing together of separate parts into a single whole.
- Law. increase of property by gradual natural additions, as of land by alluvion.
noun
- any gradual increase in size, as through growth or external addition
- something added, esp extraneously, to cause growth or an increase in size
- the growing together of normally separate plant or animal parts
- pathol
- abnormal union or growing together of parts; adhesion
- a mass of foreign matter collected in a cavity
- law an increase in the share of a beneficiary in an estate, as when a co-beneficiary fails to take his share
- astronomy the process in which matter under the influence of gravity is attracted to and increases the mass of a celestial body. The matter usually forms an accretion disc around the accreting object
- geology the process in which a continent is enlarged by the tectonic movement and deformation of the earth’s crust
n.1610s, from Latin accretionem (nominative accretio) “an increasing, a growing larger” (e.g. of the waxing moon), noun of action from past participle stem of accrescere, from ad- “to” (see ad-) + crescere “grow” (see crescent). n.
- Growth or increase in size by gradual external addition, fusion, or inclusion.
- Increase by addition to the periphery of material of the same nature as that already present, as in the growth of crystals.accrementition
- Foreign material, such as plaque or calculus, collecting on the surface of a tooth or in a cavity.
- The growing together or adherence of body parts that are normally separate.
- Geology The gradual extension of land by natural forces, as in the addition of sand to a beach by ocean currents, or the extension of a floodplain through the deposition of sediments by repeated flooding.
- Astronomy The accumulation of additional mass in a celestial object by the drawing together of interstellar gas and surrounding objects by gravity.