| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
| |
| excrescence |
| |
| SYLLABICATION: | ex·cres·cence |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   k-skr s  ns |
| NOUN: | 1. An outgrowth or enlargement, especially an abnormal one, such as a wart. 2. A usually unwanted or unnecessary accretion: “Independent agencies were an excrescence on the Constitution” (Los Angeles Times). | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Latin excr scentia, from neuter pl. of excrscns, excrscent-, present participle of excrscere, to grow out : ex-, ex- + crscere, to grow; see ker-2 in Appendix I.
| | |
| |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
