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Origin and history of growth

growth(n.)

1550s, "stage in growing," from grow + -th (2), on model of health, stealth, etc. Compare Old Norse groði, from groa "to grow." Meaning "that which has grown" is from 1570s; "process of growing" is from 1580s. Old English used grownes "increase, prosperity."

also from 1550s

Entries linking to growth

grow(v.)

Middle English grouen, from Old English growan (of plants) "to flourish, increase, develop, get bigger" (class VII strong verb; past tense greow, past participle growen), from Proto-Germanic *gro-, from PIE root *ghre- "to grow, become green" (see grass).

Applied in Middle English to human beings (c. 1300) and animals (early 15c.) and their parts, supplanting Old English weaxan (see wax (v.)) in the general sense of "to increase."

The transitive sense "cause to grow" is attested from 1774. To grow on "gain in the estimation of" is from 1712.

Germanic cognates include Old Norse groa "to grow" (of vegetation), Old Frisian groia, Dutch groeien, Old High German gruoen.

outgrowth(n.)

"that which grows from or out of anything," especially an excrescence from the surface of a plant, 1801, from out- + growth. The figurative sense, in reference to inanimate things, "a development or result from a cause or beginning or from some earlier state" is by 1828.

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maturation
early 15c., maturacioun, "the coming to a head of a boil, etc.; a state of producing pus," from Latin mātūrationem (nominative mātūratio) "a hastening, accelerating," noun of action from past-participle stem of mātūrare "to ripen, grow ripe; make ripe; to quicken" (see mature (v.
development
1756, "a gradual unfolding, a full working out or disclosure of the details of something;" see develop + -ment. Meaning "the internal process of expanding and growing" is by 1796; sense of "advancement through progressive stages" is by 1836.  Of property, with a sense of "a
increase
mid-14c., encresen, "become greater in size or number" (intransitive); late 14c., "cause to grow, enlarge" (transitive), from Anglo-French encress-, Old French encreiss-, present participle stem of encreistre, from Latin increscere "to increase, to grow upon, grow over, swell, gr
vegetative
late 14c., "endowed with the power of growth," from Old French vegetatif "(naturally) growing," from Medieval Latin vegetativus...Middle English transferred sense was "characterized by growth."...having only such functions which perform involuntarily or unconsciously and thus are likened to the processes of vegetable growth...
waist
garment that covers the waist" (but, due to fashion styles, often above or below it), probably from Old English *wæst "growth...from Proto-Germanic *wahs-tu- (source also of Old English wæstm, Old Norse vöxtr, Swedish växt, Old High German wahst "growth...
nip
Sense of "blast as by frost, check the growth or vigor of" is from 1580s....To nip (something) in the bud in the figurative sense of "kill or destroy in the first stage of growth" is recorded from...
accrue
15c., acreuen, in reference to property, etc., "to fall to someone as an addition or increment," from Old French acreue "growth...From late 15c. as "happen or result as a natural growth;" from 1881 as "gain by increment, accumulate."...
habit
early 13c., "characteristic attire of a religious or clerical order," from Old French habit, abit "clothing, (ecclesiastical) habit; conduct" (12c.), from Latin habitus "condition, demeanor, appearance, dress," originally past participle of habere "to have, hold, possess; wear; f
polyp
c. 1400, "nasal tumor," from Old French polype and directly from Latin polypus "cuttlefish," also "nasal tumor," from Greek (Doric, Aeolic) polypos "octopus, cuttlefish," from polys "many" (from PIE root *pele- (1) "to fill") + pous "foot" (from PIE root *ped- "foot"). The etymol
efflorescence
1620s, "a bursting into flower, act of blossoming out," from French efflorescence, from Latin efflorescentem (nominative efflorescens), present participle of efflorescere "to bloom, flourish, blossom," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + florescere "to blossom," from fl

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