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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

accrue.

To increase, to rise

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/əˈkɹuː/UK/əˈkɹu/US
  1. To increase, to rise

    intransitive
  2. To reach or come to by way of increase; to arise or spring up because of growth or result, especially as the produce of money lent.

    intransitive
    Environmental benefits that accrue to the area.
  3. To be incurred as a result of the passage of time.

    intransitive
    The monthly financial statements show all the actual but only some of the accrued expenses.
  4. To accumulate.

    transitive
    He has accrued nine sick days.
  5. To become an enforceable and permanent right.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

First attested in mid 15th century. From Middle English acrewen, borrowed from Old French acreüe, past participle of accreistre (“to increase”), from Latin accrēsco (“increase”), from ad (“in addition”) + crēscō (“to grow”). Compare accrete.

noun/əˈkɹuː/UK/əˈkɹu/US
  1. Something that accrues; advantage accruing

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

First attested in mid 15th century. From Middle English acrewen, borrowed from Old French acreüe, past participle of accreistre (“to increase”), from Latin accrēsco (“increase”), from ad (“in addition”) + crēscō (“to grow”). Compare accrete.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.