accretive

Also ac·cre·tion·ar·y

[uh-kree-tiv]

adjective

1. increasing by natural growth or gradual addition.

   Not only in manufacturing, but also in other sectors, there is an accretive demand for plastics.

2. growing together from separate or disparate parts into a single whole.

   By making room for reports of single experiments and minor technical advances, journals have made the chaos of science accretive.

3. contributing to the growth or increase of something, especially profit.

   Increased penetration of overseas markets will be accretive to the company’s earnings.

   Effective presentation of data is greatly accretive to helping understand trends and insights.

Other Word Forms

• nonaccretive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of accretive¹

First recorded in 1655–65; from Late Latin accretivus, equivalent to Latin accrēt(us) “grown” + -īvus -ive ( def. ), accretion ( def. )