accretive

English

Etymology

From accrete +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈkɹi.tɪv/

• Audio (US):

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Adjective

accretive (not comparable)

1. Relating to accretion; increasing, or adding to, by growth.
   • 1661, Joseph Glanvill, chapter 9, in The Vanity of Dogmatizing‎^[1], London: Henry Eversden, page 81:

     […] Vegetables spring up from their Mother Earth; and we can no more discern their accretive Motion, then we can their most hidden cause.

   • 1927, T. E. Lawrence, chapter 19, in Revolt in the Desert‎^[2], Garden City, NY: Garden City Publishing, pages 170–171:

     There could be no rest-houses for revolt, no dividend of joy paid out. Its spirit was accretive, to endure as far as the senses would endure, and to use each advance as base for further adventure, deeper privation, sharper pain.

   • 2003 February 12, Terry Macalister, “BP looks to volatile nations”, in The Guardian:

     The deal, expected to be completed by the summer, would be immediately accretive to cashflow and earnings per share while giving BP an extra 500,000 barrels per day.

Derived terms

• nonaccretive

 

Related terms

• accrescent
• accretional

 

Translations

relating to accretion

• Latin: accretivus
• Portuguese: acretivo