concretion
(kənˈkriːʃən)
[a. F. concrétion (16th c. in Littré). or ad. (its prototype) L. concrētiōn-em, n. of action f. concrēscĕre to grow together: see concrete.]
1. The action or process of growing together or of uniting in one mass; concrescence, coalescence.
| 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 672 An egge hath the generation and concretion within the bodie onely of a living creature. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. ii. §14 The concretion of bodyes by the concourse of these Atoms. 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iii. vii. 288 Upon great Mutations of the World perfect Creatures were first ingendred of Concretion. 1802 Playfair Illustr. Hutton. Th. 246 These two substances were perfectly soft..at the moment of their concretion. 1829 Jas. Mill Anal. Hum. Mind (1869) I. 264 Have we not the idea of a wood, or a forest?.. These are instances of the concretion of synchronous ideas. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 130 A cohesion, of the styles, by which their tendency to concretion may be recognised. |
† b. Formation of morbid concretions (see sense 6) in an animal body.
Obs.| 1541 R. Copland Galyen's Terap. [They] do crud & make concrecyon in y⊇ partyes of the bulke or oesophage. 1761 Brit. Mag. II. 537 Such obstinate concretion and obstruction..as bring on gout. |
2. Congelation or coagulation of a liquid.
| 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 269 Concretion is divaporation of humidity in fluid things, by gentle decoction on fire. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Concretion, a congealment. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. 275 Fluids capable of concretion. 1836 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 419/1 The blood's speedy concretion in debility. |
† 3. Union or connexion with something material or actual.
Obs.| 1605 Timme Quersit. i. xvii. 93 It is..freed from all mortal concretion. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. xv. §18 If we consider good life in union and concretion with particular..actions of piety. a 1652 J. Smith Sel. Disc. vi. viii. (1821) 261 The soul..because of her concretion with this mortal body. 1741 Middleton Cicero II. xi. 613 Clear from all mortal concretion. |
† 4. State or degree of concrescence.
Obs.| 1606 Bp. J. King Serm. (Sept.) 14 Of a strange composition and concretion. 1635 Swan Spec. M. v. §2 (1643) 123 Other starres might also attain to the like luminous concretion. 1794 J. Hutton Philos. Light, etc. 31 Diminished in its hardness and concretion. |
5. quasi-
concr. A concrete mass
of (anything).
| 1626 Bacon Sylva (1631) §568 Some plants..being supposed to grow of some Concretion of Slime from the Water. 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece ii. xx. (1715) 373 Salt is a Concretion of Sea Water. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 651 A concretion of marine shells. 1886 H. B. Wheatley in Antiquary Feb. 58/2 The pearl is a mere concretion of the carbonate of lime forming the shell. |
| fig. 1634 Jackson Creed vii. Wks. VI. 223 That concretion of ceremonial matters. 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. ii. x. 235 The whole concretion of the City of Gloucester consists partly of..the ancient Borough, partly of accessions. |
6. concr. A solid mass formed by aggregation and cohesion of particles; a lump, nodule, clot:
esp. a. Path. a hard morbid formation in the body, a calculus, stone;
b. Geol. a mass formed by aggregation of solid particles, usually around a nucleus; characteristic of certain rocks (
cf. concretionary).
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 137 Conceiving the stones..to be a Minerall concretion. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. iii. 61 Stones..to which earthy concretions may be annexed by way of affinity. 1702 J. Purcell Cholick (1714) 33 He cut a stony Concretion out of the Liver. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. i. xi. (1865) 86 Such poor concretions as mankind. 1833 Brewster Nat. Magic xxxiv. 285 Tabasheer..is a silicious concretion found in the joints of the bamboo. 1865 Page Handbk. Geol. Terms s.v., Nodules like those of chert and ironstone..and the grape-like clusters of the magnesian limestone, are termed ‘concretions’, as formed by a molecular aggregation distinct from crystallisation. |
7. The action of making, or condition of being, concrete (see
concrete a. 5). ?
Obs. † in concretion: in the concrete (see
concrete a. 5).
| 1642 Jer. Taylor Episc. (1647) 152 In such distinction and subordination & in concretion a Presbyter is sometimes called Sacerdos. 1751 Harris Hermes iii. i. (1786) 306 But the Mind surmounts all power of Concretion. |
b. The result of such action; embodiment in a concrete form; a concrete thing.
| 1841 Miall Nonconf. I. 401 If our national institutions are but so many concretions of the national will. 1856 Ferrier Inst. Metaph. 195 All knowledge and all thought are concrete, and deal only with concretions—the concretion of the particular and the universal. |