excrescence

American  

[ik-skres-uhns] / ɪkˈskrɛs əns /

noun

1. an abnormal outgrowth, usually harmless, on an animal or vegetable body.

   The patient had moles, swollen red dots, and other excrescences all over the body.

2. a normal outgrowth, as hair or horns.

3. any disfiguring addition.

4. abnormal growth or increase.

5. Phonetics. the insertion or addition of a sound, usually a consonant, as a result of articulatory interaction without grammatical or historical justification, like the t-sound in prince or the p-sound in hamster.

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excrescence British  

/ ɪkˈskrɛsəns, ˌɛkskrɪˈsɛnʃəl /

noun

1. a projection or protuberance, esp an outgrowth from an organ or part of the body

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Other Word Forms

• excrescential adjective
• superexcrescence noun

Etymology

Origin of excrescence

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English; from Latin excrēscentia; excrescent, -ence

Example Sentences

Things didn't improve from there, with the Observer calling it "shameless excrescence" in 2017.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2020

Its head is a sculptural confection of broken cycles, its rear a writhing excrescence of black rubber loops.

From Economist • Oct. 26, 2017

This ravishing excrescence reminded me of a shipwreck-themed Alexander McQueen show from 2002, which opened with a video of a drowning girl.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 21, 2016

Jewels are to art what celebrities are to society, at best an ornament, more commonly an excrescence.

From Washington Post • May 7, 2015

Jovius calls it Carunniculam, or a little piece of flesh; Golius, an oblong excrescence.

From The Masculine Cross A History of Ancient and Modern Crosses and Their Connection with the Mysteries of Sex Worship; Also an Account of the Kindred Phases of Phallic Faiths and Practices by Anonymous