31 January 2017
accretion
[uh-kree-shuh n]
noun
1. an increase by natural growth or by gradual external addition; growth in size or extent.
2. the result of this process.
3. an added part; addition:
The last part of the legend is a later accretion.
4. the growing together of separate parts into a single whole.
5. Law. increase of property by gradual natural additions, as of land by alluvion.
Origin of accretion
Latin
1605-1615; < Latin accrētiōn- (stem of accrētiō), equivalent to accrēt (us), past participle of accrēscere to grow ( ac- ac- + crē- grow + -tus past participle suffix) + -iōn- -ion
Related forms
accretive, accretionary, adjective
nonaccretion, noun
nonaccretive, adjective
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for accretion
Contemporary
Accretion of incremental, imperceptible changes which can constitute progress and which render our era dramatically different from the past, a contrast obscured by the undramatic nature of gradual transformation punctuated by occasional tumult.
Rebecca Solnit
TED Talk: Danny Dorling: Maps that show us who we are (not just where we are)
The powerful forces of gravity and magnetism channel matter into huge flattened spinning platters known as accretion disks.
The Black Hole Tango
Matthew R. Francis
November 23, 2014
The direction of polarization for a quasar is determined by the accretion disk surrounding it.
The Black Hole Tango
Matthew R. Francis
November 23, 2014
Their gravitational pull can draw in huge amounts of gas, which swirls in a thick donut-shaped pattern known as an accretion disk.
The Supermassive Black Hole Smokescreen
Matthew R. Francis
June 21, 2014
The accretion of interest groups is not a uniquely American problem.
So What Would I Do About China?
David Frum
August 21, 2012
Historical Examples
The appearance greatly improved, and the accretion in seven years after thinning showed 160 per cent.
Garden and Forest Weekly, Volume 1 No. 1, February 29, 1888
Various
With any accretion allowed, the concentration of wealth is irresistible.
Usury
Calvin Elliott
Organisms are not added to by accretion, as in the case of minerals, but by growth.
Natural Law in the Spiritual World
Henry Drummond
The only difficulty in this accretion is to secure debtors that will not die.
Usury
Calvin Elliott
Nor must we despise them when we reflect upon their power of accretion.
Lippincott’s Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XII, No. 28. July, 1873.
Various
She was in a state of rare contentment, an accretion to the gaiety that was hers by nature.
The Intrusions of Peggy
Anthony Hope
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Today’s quote
In your 20s you can be pretty, but you don’t accomplish real beauty until you find wisdom and depth.
– Evangeline Lilly
On this day
31 January 1606 – death of Guy Fawkes, English soldier and one of the masterminds behind the failed ‘Gunpowder Plot’ to blow up English Parliament in an effort to assassinate King James 1 and VI of Scotland. Born 13 April 1570.
31 January 1961 – Ham the Astrochimp, returns safely to Earth after completing a NASA mission into outer space. HAM is an acronym for Holloman Aerospace Medical Centre, which was located at the Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.
31 January 1991 – McDonald’s opens its first restaurant in Moscow.