accreted
Built up slowly
Accreted is the past tense of accrete, meaning to grow or accumulate gradually by addition.
The term appears most often in scientific contexts—planets accreted from dust and gas, coral reefs accreted over millennia.
More broadly, anything that builds up slowly has accreted: The collection accreted over decades of patient searching.
Power had accreted to the executive branch.
Remained attached to
- bondedFastened or emotionally connected
- fusedJoined by melting together
- joinedLinked or united
- agglomeratedGathered into a mass
clumped · coalesced · amalgamated · conglomerated · clustered · combined · merged · unified
Gradual accumulation over time
- depositPlace for safekeeping
- residueMatter left behind
- encrustationHardened surface deposit
- scaleMeasure of relative size
sediment · silt · plaque · tartar · layers · gradual · incremental · aggregated
Preceding planetary formation
- planetesimalsSmall accreting celestial objects
- nebulaInterstellar gas formation
- protostarPre-fusion celestial body
- interstellarBetween celestial bodies
coalescence · clumping · gravity · hydrogen · helium · cosmology · asteroid · comet
Particles settling in liquid
- strataParallel geological layers
- depositionFormal testimony under oath
- layeringForming successive strata
- mineralizationConversion to mineral form
fossils · bedrock · sedimentary · crust · silicates · outcrop · erosion · tectonics
adhered
Remained attached to
agglomerated · clumped · coalesced · amalgamated · conglomerated · clustered · combined · merged · unified · aggregated
buildup
Gradual accumulation over time
- depositPlace for safekeeping
- residueMatter left behind
- encrustationHardened surface deposit
scale · sediment · silt · plaque · tartar · layers · gradual · incremental · aggregated · amassed
protoplanetary
Preceding planetary formation
- planetesimalsSmall accreting celestial objects
- nebulaInterstellar gas formation
- protostarPre-fusion celestial body
interstellar · coalescence · clumping · gravity · hydrogen · helium · cosmology · asteroid · comet · orbital
sediment
Particles settling in liquid
- strataParallel geological layers
- depositionFormal testimony under oath
- layeringForming successive strata
mineralization · fossils · bedrock · sedimentary · crust · silicates · outcrop · erosion · tectonics · geode
accretederoded
Gradually degraded by elements
dissipated · dispersed · depleted · worn away · shed
accreteddispersed
Spread widely apart
scattered · fragmented · disintegrated · diffused · disaggregated