What does excrescency mean?
"Excrescency" is a formal English noun denoting an abnormal outgrowth — a wart, tumor, bony spur, or similar protrusion on a plant, animal, or person. By extension it is applied figuratively to anything perceived as an ugly, excessive, or unwelcome addition, such as an ill-conceived building appended to a handsome older structure. The word derives from the Latin excrescere, "to grow forth or spring up," formed from ex- ("out") and crescere ("to grow"), the same root that gives us "crescent" and "increase." In modern usage it is rare, having been largely displaced by its sibling "excrescence," which carries the same meaning and appears far more frequently in both literal and figurative contexts. Where it survives, "excrescency" tends to sound literary or clinical, and it usually carries a negative charge: whatever it describes is not merely growing, but growing where it should not.
nounAn abnormal outgrowth or protrusion, especially on a plant, animal, or the human body; more broadly, any unwelcome or superfluous addition to something.
- An abnormal outgrowth or swelling on a plant, animal, or body part, such as a tumor, wart, or bony spur.
- A superfluous, ugly, or unwanted addition to something — used figuratively of buildings, institutions, or texts.
"The surgeon removed a small bony excrescency from the patient's heel."
"The old oak's trunk was studded with gnarled excrescencies where branches had broken off decades ago."
"Critics dismissed the glass tower as an architectural excrescency bolted onto a graceful nineteenth-century facade."
Standard pluralization for countable uses; the singular is also sometimes treated as uncountable when referring to the condition or phenomenon generally.
"The pathologist noted several small excrescencies along the intestinal wall."
"Excrescency" and "excrescence" mean almost exactly the same thing — but one became a household word while the other faded into rare-book territory.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of excrescency
Excrescency comes from Latin excrescere, meaning "to grow forth," a compound of ex- ("out") and crescere ("to grow"). The word entered English in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, alongside the closely related noun "excrescence." Its cognates share the crescere root, which also underlies "crescent," "increase," and "decrease" — all words concerned with growing or waxing.
Related word forms
How excrescency is actually used
"Excrescency" is formal and distinctly uncommon; in everyday medical, biological, or critical writing, "excrescence" is the usual choice. When it does appear, it often carries a mildly pejorative connotation of something diseased, disfiguring, or tacked on unnecessarily.
Easily confused with excrescency
"Excrescence" is the far more common term for an outgrowth or disfiguring addition, while "excrescency" is a rarer variant carrying essentially the same meaning.