Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
accretion
ac-cre′tion
(ăk-krē′shŭn)
, Noun.
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 earthA mineral . . . augments not by growth, but by
accretion
. Owen.
To strip off all the subordinate parts of his narrative 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 mass4.
A growing together of parts naturally separate, as of the fingers or 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 soil 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, by failure of a coheir to the same succession, or a co-legatee of the same thing, to take his share.
Wharton. Kent.
Webster 1828 Edition
Accretion
ACCRE'TION
,Noun.
1.
A growing to; an increase by natural growth; applied to the increase of organic bodies by the accession of parts.Plants have an accretion, but no alimentation.
2.
In the civil law, the adhering of property to something else, by which the owner of one thing becomes possessed of a right to another; as, when a legacy is left to two persons, and one of them dies before the testator, the legacy devolves to the survivor by right of accretion.