concretion

noun

con·​cre·​tion kän-ˈkrē-shən 

kən-

1

: something concreted: such as

a

: a hard usually inorganic mass (such as a bezoar or tophus) formed in a living body

b

: a mass of mineral matter found generally in rock of a composition different from its own and produced by deposition from aqueous solution in the rock

2

: the act or process of concreting : the state of being concreted

concretion of ideas in a hypothesis

concretionary

kän-ˈkrē-shə-ˌner-ē 

kən-

adjective

Examples of concretion in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The museum was interested and asked to keep it to work on it to take off the many layers on concretion on it. —Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 20 June 2024

Parade sets out to go beyond the novel’s habitual concretion, to undo our attachment to the stability of selfhood and its social markers. —Nicholas Dames, The Atlantic, 14 June 2024

Henderson said the concretion helped preserve the skin, preventing even bacteria from breaking it down. —Jeanne Timmons, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2023

The head of the ankylosaur still partly encased in the concretion it was discovered in. —Jeanne Timmons, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin concrētiōn-, concrētiō "formation into something solid," from concrē-, stem of concrēscere "to coalesce, condense, solidify, harden" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action — more at concrescence

First Known Use

1541, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

concretion

noun

con·​cre·​tion kän-ˈkrē-shən 

kən-

1

: a hard usually inorganic mass formed in a living body

2

: a lump or egg-shaped mass of mineral matter found in rock of different composition

Medical Definition

concretion

noun

con·​cre·​tion kän-ˈkrē-shən, kən- 

: a hard usually inorganic mass (as a tophus) formed especially from mineral salts in a living body