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Origin and history of accretion

accretion(n.)

1610s, "act of growing by organic enlargement;" 1650s as "that which is formed by continued growth from without," from Latin accretionem (nominative accretio) "an increasing, a growing larger" (as of the waxing moon), noun of action from past-participle stem of accrescere "grow progressively, increase, become greater," from ad "to" (see ad-) + crescere "grow" (from PIE root *ker- (2) "to grow"). It goes with the verb accrue. Related: Accretional; accretionary.

accretion

also from 1610s

Entries linking to accretion

accrue(v.)

formerly also accrew, mid-15c., acreuen, in reference to property, etc., "to fall to someone as an addition or increment," from Old French acreue "growth, increase, what has grown," fem. of acreu, past participle of acreistre (Modern French accroître) "to increase," from Latin accrescere "grow progressively, increase, become greater," from ad "to" (see ad-) + crescere "grow" (from PIE root *ker- (2) "to grow"). Related: Accrued; accruing.

Apparently an English verb from a French noun because there is no English noun to go with it until much later (the earliest seems to be now-obsolete accrue, 1570s), unless the record is defective. From late 15c. as "happen or result as a natural growth;" from 1881 as "gain by increment, accumulate." Alternative verb accrete "grow by adhesion" (1784) is rare, as is accresce (1630s), from Latin accrescere.

accrual(n.)

"act or process of accruing," 1782, from accrue + -al (2). Compare accretion. Another older noun was accruement (c. 1600).

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accumulation
late 15c., "that which is heaped up, an accumulated mass," from Latin accumulationem (nominative accumulatio) "a heaping up," noun of action from past-participle stem of accumulare "to heap up, amass," from ad "to," here perhaps emphatic (see ad-), + cumulare "heap up," from cumu
gender
 The unetymological  -d- is a phonetic accretion in Old French (compare sound (n.1))....
deposit
1620s, "place in the hands of another as a pledge for a contract," from Latin depositus, past participle of deponere "lay aside, put down, deposit," also used of births and bets, from de "away" (see de-) + ponere "to put, place" (past participle positus; see position (n.)). From
increase
mid-14c., encresen, "become greater in size or number" (intransitive); late 14c., "cause to grow, enlarge" (transitive), from Anglo-French encress-, Old French encreiss-, present participle stem of encreistre, from Latin increscere "to increase, to grow upon, grow over, swell, gr
deposition
late 14c., deposicion, "dethronement, a putting down of a person from dignity, office, or authority," from Old French deposicion (12c.), from Latin depositionem (nominative depositio), noun of action from past-participle stem of deponere "to lay aside" (see deposit (v.)). Meaning
gain
c. 1200, gein, "advantage, benefit; help," c. 1300, "reward, profit, that which has been acquired" (possessions, resources, wealth), from Old French gain, gaaigne "gain, profit, advantage; work, business; booty; arable land" (12c.), from Germanic, and from Old Norse (see gain (v.
crucible
early 15c., crusible, "vessel or melting pot for chemical purposes, so tempered as to endure extreme heat," from Medieval Latin crucibulum "melting pot for metals," originally "night lamp." First element might be Middle High German kruse "earthen pot." Or perhaps it is from Latin
invention
early 15c., invencioun, "finding or discovering of something," from Old French invencion (13c.) and directly from Latin inventionem (nominative inventio) "faculty of invention," noun of action from past-participle stem of invenire "to come upon, find; find out; invent, discover,
flush
mid-13c., flusshen "move rapidly or violently; rush, dart, spring" (intransitive); late 15c., flush up, transitive, "cause to fly; start or flush (birds)," perhaps imitative of the sound of beating wings. The sense of "spurt, rush out suddenly, flow with force" (1540s, usually of
zombie
also zombi, jumbie, 1788, possibly representing two separate words, one relating to the dead and the other to authority figures, but if so historically these were not kept distinct in English-speaking usage. The oldest attested sense in English is "'spirits of dead wicked men [..

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