excrescence

(ĭk-skrĕs'əns)
n.

1. An outgrowth or enlargement, especially an abnormal one, such as a wart.
2. A usually unwanted or unnecessary accretion: "Independent agencies were an excrescence on the Constitution" (Los Angeles Times).

[Middle English, from Latin excrēscentia, from neuter pl. of excrēscēns, excrēscent-, present participle of excrēscere, to grow out : ex-, ex- + crēscere, to grow.]

(ik-SKRES-uhns)

noun
1. An abnormal outgrowth, e.g. wart.
2. A normal outgrowth, e.g. hair or nail.
3. An unwanted, unnecessary, or disfiguring extension or addition.

Etymology
From Middle English, from Latin excrescentia, from excrescent- (stem of excrescens), present participle of excrescere (to grow out), from ex- (out), + crescere (to grow). Other derivatives from the same Latin root are crew, crescendo, crescent, accrue, concrete, decrease, increase, recruit.

Usage
"We opined in these columns three weeks ago that the Rainbow Alliance is an excrescence in the ruling party and will not fly as an idea inside Kanu, only out of it." — Mathayo Ndekere; A New Ball Game As Saitoti is Off-Loaded; The East African Standard (Nairobi, Kenya); Sep 1, 2002.

"When it is erected next fall at Michigan and Wacker Drive as part of the rebuilding of Michigan Avenue south of the Chicago River, this florid excrescence will be 75 feet tall, with a stylized version of the four-star Chicago flag draped from its crossbar." — Blair Kamin; Boul Mich Pylon Plan Reason to Hoist Warning Flags; Chicago Tribune; May 1, 1997.

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An abnormal outgrowth; a projection of morbid origin.

IN BRIEF: Any unnatural addition, outgrowth, or development.

Beauty is excrescence, superabundance, random ebullience, and sheer delightful waste to be enjoyed in its own right. — Donald Culross Peattie.