Definition of ACCUMULATE

accumulate

Verb

  • get or gather together
  • collect or gather
  • To heap up in a mass; to pile up; to collect or bring together (either literally or figuratively)
  • To gradually grow or increase in quantity or number.
  • To take a higher degree at the same time with a lower degree, or at a shorter interval than usual.

Adj

  • Collected; accumulated.

Examples

  • He wishes to accumulate a sum of money.
  • With her company going bankrupt, her divorce, and a gambling habit, debts started to accumulate so she had to sell her house.

Origin / Etymology

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.

Synonyms

amass, collect, compile, conglomerate, cumulate, gather, hoard, pile up, roll up, accrue, accumulate, add up, agglomerate, aggregate, amound, build up, garner, heap, heap up, mound, mount up, pile, rack up, stack, stack up, store, upheap

Antonyms

decline, decumulate, lose

Scrabble Score: 16

accumulate: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
accumulate: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
accumulate: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 22

accumulate: valid Words With Friends Word