growth

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   vegetation that has grown

   a growth of trees

2. 2
   noun

   something grown or growing

   a growth of hair

3. 3
   noun

   a progression from simpler to more complex forms

   the growth of culture

4. 4
   noun

   An increase in size, number, value, or strength.

   It may be that a free society as we have known it carries in itself the forces of its own destruction, that once freedom has been achieved it is taken for granted and ceases to be valued, and that the free growth of ideas which is the essence of a free society will bring about the destruction of the foundations on which it depends.

5. 5
   noun

   Ellipsis of economic growth.

   Growth was dampened by a softening of the global economy in 2001, but picked up in the subsequent years due to strong growth in China.

6. 6
   noun

   An increase in psychological strength or resilience; an increased ability to overcome adversity.

   Struggle, disappointment, and criticism all contribute to a person's growth.

7. 7
   noun

   Something that grows or has grown.

   Scary-looking rabbits were hopping around Fort Collins. These weren’t your standard cute, fluffy bunnies; they had horn-like growths protruding from their faces and bodies.

8. 8
   noun

   the gradual beginning or coming forth

Etymology

From grow + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Compare Old Frisian grēd ("meadow, pasture"; > North Frisian greyde (“growth, pasture”)), Middle High German gruote, gruot (“greens, fresh growth, shoot”), Old Norse gróðr ("growth, crop"; > Faroese grøði, Danish grøde (“fruits”), Swedish gröda (“crop, harvest”)). More at grow.