accumulate definition

English accumulate definition

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin accumulātus, perfect passive participle of accumulō (“amass, pile up”), formed from ad (“to, towards, at”) + cumulō (“heap”), from cumulus (“a heap”). First attested in the 1520's.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈkjuːmjʊˌleɪt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ə.ˈkjum.jə.ˌleɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ac‧cu‧mu‧late

Verb

accumulate (third-person singular simple present accumulates, present participle accumulating, simple past and past participle accumulated)

1. (transitive) To heap up in a mass; to pile up; to collect or bring together (either literally or figuratively)

   He wishes to accumulate a sum of money.

   Synonyms: amass, heap, hoard, store; see also Thesaurus:pile up

2. (intransitive) To gradually grow or increase in quantity or number.

   With her company going bankrupt, her divorce, and a gambling habit, debts started to accumulate so she had to sell her house.

   Synonyms: aggregate, amound, collect, gather; see also Thesaurus:accumulate

   • 1770, Goldsmith, Oliver, The Deserted Village, lines 17–18:

     Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, / Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.

3. (education, dated) To take a higher degree at the same time with a lower degree, or at a shorter interval than usual.

Translations

Adjective

accumulate (not comparable)

1. (poetic, rare) Collected; accumulated.

Related terms

• accumulation
• accumulator
• cumulus

Further reading

• accumulate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• accumulate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Italian accumulate definition

Etymology 1

Verb

accumulate

1. inflection of accumulare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

accumulate f pl

1. feminine plural of accumulato

Latin accumulate definition

Etymology

From accumulō (“amass, pile up”).

Adverb

accumulātē (comparative accumulātius, superlative accumulātissimē)

1. abundantly, copiously

Synonyms

• abundanter

Related terms

• accumulator
• accumulō

References

• “accumulate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “accumulate”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• accumulate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• accumulate in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, 1st edition. (Oxford University Press)