Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

excrescence

/ɛkˈskɹɛsəns/ noun

In Latin: tūber Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about excrescence at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Something, usually abnormal, which grows out of something else.
A disfiguring or unwanted mark or adjunct.
The epenthesis of a consonant, e.g., warmth as [ˈwɔrmpθ] (adding a [p] between [m] and [θ]), or -t (Etymology 2).

Origin

From Middle English, early 15th century, in sense “(action of) growing out (of something else)”. Borrowed from Latin excrescentia (“abnormal growths”), from excrescentem, from excrēscere, from ex- (“out”) (English ex-) + crēscere (“to grow”) (English crescent). Sense of “abnormal growth” from 1570s, from earlier excrescency (1540s in this sense).

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

Back to today's word