concretion

See also: concrétion

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French concrétion, or Latin concretio.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iːʃən

Noun

concretion (countable and uncountable, plural concretions)

1. The process of aggregating or coalescing into a mass.
2. A solid, hard mass formed by a process of aggregation or coalescence.
3. (petrology) A rounded mass of a mineral, sometimes found in sedimentary rock or on the ocean floor.
   • 1844, Charles Darwin, chapter 5, in Geological Observations on South America:

     Of the three beds, the central one is the most compact, and more like ordinary sandstone: it includes numerous flattened spherical concretions.

4. The action of making something concrete or the result of such an action.
   • 1860, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 14, in The Marble Faun:

     "My new statue!" said Kenyon. . . . "It is the concretion of a good deal of thought, emotion, and toil of brain and hand."

Usage notes

• Concretion and concretization are rough synonyms but are usually not used interchangeably. Concretion is more commonly used to refer to a physical object or to the physical process which creates it. Concretization is more commonly used to refer to a particular embodiment of a general concept or to the process which creates it.

Related terms

• concrete

Translations

process of aggregating or coalescing into a mass

• Bulgarian: слепване (bg) (slepvane), срастване (bg) (srastvane)
• Finnish: kiveytyminen
• Greek: συγκερασμός (el) m (sygkerasmós)
• Macedonian: сраснување n (srasnuvanje)
• Manx: co-aase m
• Russian: сгуще́ние (ru) n (sguščénije)
• Spanish: concreción (es) m

solid, hard mass thus formed

• Finnish: kiveymä
• German: Konkretion (de) f
• Macedonian: срасток m (srastok)
• Swedish: konkretion (sv) c

petrology: rounded mass of a mineral

• Bulgarian: конкреция (konkrecija)
• Catalan: concreció f
• Finnish: konkreetio
• Greek: λίθος (el) m (líthos)
• Italian: concrezione (it) f
• Russian: конкреция (ru) f (konkrecija)

action of making something concrete or the result of such an action

• Bulgarian: конкретизация (bg) (konkretizacija)
• Catalan: concreció f
• Finnish: konkretisoiminen (act); konkretisoituminen (fi) (result)
• Greek: σύμπηξη (el) f (sýmpixi)
• Swedish: konkretion (sv) c

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.

Anagrams

• concertino, concertion, in concreto