accumulate

English

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)

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

   He wishes to accumulate a sum of money.

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

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

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

   • 1770, Oliver Goldsmith, 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

to pile up

• Belarusian: назапа́шваць impf (nazapášvacʹ), запа́сіць impf (zapásicʹ), назапа́сіць pf (nazapásicʹ), нако́пліваць impf (nakóplivacʹ), накапля́ць impf (nakapljácʹ), накапі́ць pf (nakapícʹ)
• Bulgarian: натру́пвам (bg) impf (natrúpvam), натру́пам pf (natrúpam)
• Catalan: acumular (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 儲埋／储埋 (cou⁵ maai⁴)

  Mandarin: 積累／积累 (zh) (jīlěi)

• Danish: akkumulere (da)
• Dutch: opstapelen (nl), vermeerderen (nl), accumuleren (nl)
• Esperanto: amasigi
• Farefare: kuge
• Finnish: kasata (fi), kerätä (fi), kerääntyä (fi)
• French: accumuler (fr)
• Georgian: დაგროვება (dagroveba), მოგროვება (mogroveba), შეგროვება (šegroveba)
• German: aufstauen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌿𐌷𐌾𐌰𐌽 (huhjan)
• Hebrew: צָבַר‎ (he) (tsavár), אָגַר‎ (he) (agár)
• Irish: tiomsaigh
• Japanese: 積む (ja) (つむ, tsumu)
• Korean: 모으다 (ko) (mo'euda), 축적하다 (ko) (chukjeokhada), 쌓다 (ko) (ssata)
• Latin: accumulō, cumulō
• Polish: akumulować (pl) impf, zakumulować (pl) pf
• Portuguese: acumular (pt)
• Quechua: qutuy, qulluy
• Russian: нака́пливать (ru) impf (nakáplivatʹ), копи́ть (ru) impf (kopítʹ), накопи́ть (ru) pf (nakopítʹ), аккумули́ровать (ru) impf or pf (akkumulírovatʹ), собира́ть (ru) impf (sobirátʹ), собра́ть (ru) pf (sobrátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: на̀купити pf, нагомѝлати pf

  Roman: nàkupiti (sh) pf, nagomìlati (sh) pf

• Spanish: acumular (es), amontonar (es)
• Swedish: ackumulera (sv)
• Ukrainian: накопи́чувати impf (nakopýčuvaty), накопи́чити pf (nakopýčyty), нагрома́джувати impf (nahromádžuvaty), нагрома́дити pf (nahromádyty), акумулюва́ти (uk) impf or pf (akumuljuváty)

to grow in number

• Bulgarian: съби́рам се (bg) impf (sǎbíram se), увелича́вам се (bg) impf (uveličávam se)
• Catalan: acumular (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 積累／积累 (zh) (jīlěi)

• Dutch: zich opstapelen, (zich) vermeerderen, accumuleren (nl)
• Esperanto: amasiĝi
• Finnish: kasaantua (fi), kerääntyä (fi), akkumuloitua (fi)
• French: accumuler (fr)
• German: sich vermehren
• Haitian Creole: akimile
• Hebrew: הִצְטַבֵּר‎ (hitstabér), נֶאֱגַר‎ (ne'egár)
• Indonesian: akumulasi (id)
• Interlingua: accumular se
• Italian: accumularsi
• Japanese: 蓄積する (ja) (ちくせきする chikuseki suru), 溜まる (ja) (たまる, tamaru)
• Korean: 쌓이다 (ko) (ssaida)
• Latin: accumulō
• Maltese: akkumula
• Polish: akumulować się impf, zakumulować się pf
• Portuguese: acumular (pt)
• Russian: нака́пливаться (ru) impf (nakáplivatʹsja), копи́ться (ru) impf (kopítʹsja), накопи́ться (ru) pf (nakopítʹsja), собира́ться (ru) impf (sobirátʹsja), собра́ться (ru) pf (sobrátʹsja), увели́чиваться (ru) impf (uvelíčivatʹsja), увели́читься (ru) pf (uvelíčitʹsja)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: акумули́рати impf or pf, наку́пљати impf, на̀купити pf, нагомилати, увѐћати pf, нарасти́ pf

  Roman: akumulirati (sh), nakupljati (sh), nàkupiti (sh) pf, nagomilati (sh), nàrāsti (sh) pf, uvèćati pf

• Spanish: acumularse (es)
• Swedish: (passive voice) ^{(please verify)} ackumulera (sv)

Adjective

accumulate (not comparable)

1. (poetic, rare) Collected; accumulated.

Related terms

• accumulation
• accumulator
• cumulus

Further reading

• “accumulate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “accumulate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Italian

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

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)