Definitions for: Accretion


[n] (law) an increase in a beneficiary's share in an estate (as when a co-beneficiary dies or fails to meet some condition or rejects the inheritance)
[n] an increase by natural growth or addition
[n] (geology) an increase in land resulting from alluvial deposits or water-borne sediment
[n] (biology) growth by addition as by the adhesion of parts or particles
[n] (astronomy) the formation of a celestial object by the effect of gravity pulling together surrounding objects and gases
[n] something contributing to growth or increase; "he scraped away the accretions of paint"; "the central city surrounded by recent accretions"



Webster (1913) Definition: Ac*cre"tion, n. [L. accretio, fr. accrescere to
increase. Cf. Crescent, Increase, Accrue.]
1. The act of increasing by natural growth; esp. the increase
of organic bodies by the internal accession of parts;
organic growth. --Arbuthnot.

2. The act of increasing, or the matter added, by an
accession of parts externally; an extraneous addition; as,
an accretion of earth.

A mineral . . . augments not by grown, but by
accretion. --Owen.

To strip off all the subordinate parts of his as a
later accretion. --Sir G. C.
Lewis.

3. Concretion; coherence of separate particles; as, the
accretion of particles so as to form a solid mass.

4. A growing together of parts naturally separate, as of the
fingers toes. --Dana.

5. (Law)
(a) The adhering of property to something else, by which
the owner of one thing becomes possessed of a right to
another; generally, gain of land by the washing up of
sand or sail from the sea or a river, or by a gradual
recession of the water from the usual watermark.
(b) Gain to an heir or legatee, failure of a coheir to the
same succession, or a co-legatee of the same thing, to
take his share. --Wharton. Kent.

Synonyms: accumulation

See Also: addition, deposit, deposition, gain, growth, heritage, increase, increase, increment, inheritance

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