accretion

== English == === Etymology === 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. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈkɹiːʃn̩/ (General American) enPR: ŭkrēshən, IPA(key): /əˈkɹiʃən/ Rhymes: -iːʃən Hyphenation: ac‧cret‧ion === Noun === accretion (countable and uncountable, plural accretions) (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. [from early 17th c.] Synonym: (archaic) accrescence Antonym: nonaccretion (uncountable) (Gradual) increase by an external addition of matter; (countable) an instance of this. Synonym: (archaic) accrescence Antonym: nonaccretion Near-synonym: accumulation (geology) The process by which material is added to a geological feature; specifically, to a tectonic plate at a subduction zone. Antonyms: attrition, erosion (uncountable, also figurative) Followed by of: external addition of matter to a thing which causes it to grow, especially in amount or size. (uncountable) The process of separate particles aggregating or coalescing together; concretion; (countable) a thing formed in this manner. (astrophysics) The formation of planets, stars, and other celestial bodies by the aggregating of matter drawn together by gravity; also, the growth of a celestial body through this process. (countable, chiefly figurative) Something gradually added to or growing on a thing externally. A substance which has built up on the surface of an object, rather than become embedded in it. (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. Synonyms: (archaic) accrual, accruer (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. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== secretion === References === === Further reading === accretion (astrophysics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia accretion (geology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia accretion (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “accretion”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. === Anagrams === Neoarctic, anorectic