excrescence

Meaning

Noun

• 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.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• linking consonant

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 excrescere, from ex- (English ex-) + crescere (English crescent). Sense of “abnormal growth” from 1570s, from earlier excrescency (1540s in this sense).