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accumulate

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accumulate

  • /əˈkjuːmjʊˌleɪt/ UK
  • /əˈkju.mjəˌleɪt/ Canada, US

Where it comes from

First attested c. 1487; from Middle English accumylaten, borrowed from Latin accumulātus, perfect passive participle of accumulō (“to amass, pile up”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), formed from ad (“to, towards, at”) + cumulō (“to heap”), from cumulus (“a heap”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix). Cognate with French accumuler.

verb accumulates · accumulating · accumulated

  1. transitive To heap up in a mass; to pile up; to collect or bring together (either literally or figuratively), often gradually and without active intent. He wishes to accumulate a sum of money.

    Similar: amass, heap, hoard, store, accumulate, agglomerate, build up, cumulate, heap up, mound, pile, 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.

    Similar: aggregate, amound, collect, gather

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

Similar: accrue, accumulate, add up, amound, gather, garner, get up, heap up, mount up, stack up · Opposite: decline, decumulate, lose

adjective

  1. not comparable, poetic, rare Collected; accumulated.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: amass, pile up, cumulate, hoard, collect, compile, gather, conglomerate, pull in, accumulation, pile, cumulation, accumulative, build-up, accrue, accretion

verb

Similar: accrue, accumulate, add up, amound, gather, garner, get up, heap up, mount up, stack up · Opposite: decline, decumulate, lose

Translations

Every language

verb to pile up

Españolacumular
한국어모으다 mo'euda, 축적하다 chukjeokhada, 쌓다 ssata
日本語積む tsumu
中文積累 /积累 jīlěi
Portuguêsacumular
Françaisaccumuler
Deutschaufstauen
Русскийнака́пливать nakáplivatʹ, копи́ть kopítʹ, накопи́ть nakopítʹ, аккумули́ровать akkumulírovatʹ, собира́ть sobirátʹ, собра́ть sobrátʹ
עבריתצָבַר tsavár, אָגַר agár

verb to grow in number

Españolacumularse
한국어쌓이다 ssaida
日本語蓄積する, 溜まる tamaru
中文積累 /积累 jīlěi
Portuguêsacumular
Françaisaccumuler
Deutschsich vermehren
Italianoaccumularsi
Русскийнака́пливаться nakáplivatʹsja, копи́ться kopítʹsja, накопи́ться nakopítʹsja, собира́ться sobirátʹsja, собра́ться sobrátʹsja, увели́чиваться uvelíčivatʹsja
עבריתהִצְטַבֵּר hitstabér, נֶאֱגַר ne'egár

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Cite this
MLA

"accumulate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/accumulate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

accumulate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/accumulate

Chicago

"accumulate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/accumulate.

BibTeX
@misc{accumulate_2026,
  title = {accumulate},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/accumulate},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}