Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

accrue

/əˈkɹuː/ verb

Latin root: accrēsco First recorded: mid 15th century Wiktionary

verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about accrue at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Grow by addition.
The interest accrues
Come into the possession of.
The house accrued to the oldest son

Origin

First attested in mid 15th century. From Middle English acrewen, borrowed from Old French acreüe, past participle of accreistre (“to increase”), from Latin accrēsco (“increase”), from ad (“in addition”) + crēscō (“to grow”). Compare accrete.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word