different between accretion vs improvement

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin accr?ti?, from ad (“to”) + cr?sc? (“grow”). First attested in the 1610s. Compare crescent, increase, accrue, and so on.

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: ?kr?sh?n, IPA^(key): /?.?k?i.??n/
• Rhymes: -i???n

Noun

accretion (countable and uncountable, plural accretions)

1. The act of increasing by natural growth; especially the increase of organic bodies by the internal accession of parts; organic growth.
2. The act of increasing, or the matter added, by an accession of parts externally; an extraneous addition
   • 1855, George Cornewall Lewis, An Enquiry Into the Credibility of the Early Roman History

     To strip off all the subordinate parts of his as a later accretion

3. Something added externally to promote growth the external growth of an item.
4. Concretion; coherence of separate particles

5. (biology) A growing together of parts naturally separate, as of the fingers or toes.
6. (geology) The gradual increase of land by deposition of water-borne sediment.
7. (law) 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.
8. (law) 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 percentage.

Synonyms

• growth

Antonyms

• decay
• erosion
• attrition

Derived terms

• co-accretion

Related terms

• accretion disk
• accrete
• accretive

Translations

References

• accretion in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• anorectic

English

Alternative forms

• emprovement (obsolete)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman emprouwement; synchronically improve +? -ment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?p?u?vm?nt/
• Hyphenation: im?prove?ment

Noun

improvement (countable and uncountable, plural improvements)

1. The act of improving; advancement or growth; a bettering
   • November 9, 1662, Robert South, Of the Creation of Man in the Image of God

     I look upon your city as […] the best place of improvement.

   • 1783, Hugh Blair, Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres

     Exercise is the chief source of improvement in all our faculties.
2. The act of making profitable use or application of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; practical application, for example of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse.
   • 1705, Samuel Clarke, Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion

     good improvement of his reason.

   • 1681, John Tillotson, A sermon preached at the funeral of the Reverend Mr Thomas Gouge

     I shall make some improvement of this doctrine.

3. The state of being improved; betterment; advance
4. Something which is improved

   • The parts of Sinon, Camilla, and some few others, are improvements on the Greek poet.

5. Increase; growth; progress; advance.

   • Those vices which more particularly receive improvement by prosperity.

6. (in the plural) Valuable additions or betterments, for example buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises.
7. (Patent Laws): A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition.

Synonyms

• improval, amelioration

Antonyms

• worsening
• deterioration
• disimprovement

Hyponyms

• self-improvement

Derived terms

• disimprovement

See also

• uplift

Translations

References

improvement in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English improvement.

Noun

improvement m (invariable)

1. (rare) improvement

   Synonyms: miglioramento, perfezionamento