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con·crete (kŏn-krēt, kŏng-, kŏnkrēt, kŏng-)
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adj.
1.
a. Of or relating to an actual, specific thing or instance; particular: had the concrete evidence needed to convict.
b. Relating to nouns, such as flower or rain, that denote a material or tangible object or phenomenon.
2. Existing in reality or in real experience; perceptible by the senses; real: concrete objects such as trees.
3. Formed by the coalescence of separate particles or parts into one mass; solid.
4. Made of hard, strong, conglomerate construction material.
n. (kŏnkrēt, kŏng-, kŏn-krēt, kŏng-)
1. A hard, strong construction material consisting of sand, conglomerate gravel, pebbles, broken stone, or slag in a mortar or cement matrix.
2. A mass formed by the coalescence of particles.
v. (kŏnkrēt, kŏng-, kŏn-krēt, kŏng-) con·cret·ed, con·cret·ing, con·cretes
v.tr.
1. To build, treat, or cover with hard, strong conglomerate construction material.
2. To form into a mass by coalescence or cohesion of particles or parts.
v.intr.
To harden; solidify.

[Middle English concret, from Latin concrētus, past participle of concrēscere, to grow together, harden : com-, com- + crēscere, to grow; see ker-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

con·cretely adv.
con·creteness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.