accumulate
/əˈkju.mjəˌleɪt/
UK: /əˈkjuːmjʊˌleɪt/
ƏKJU · mjəleɪt (2 syllables)
English
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Definition
To heap up in a mass; to pile up; to collect or bring together (either literally or figuratively), often gradually and without active intent.
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.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, / Where wealth accumulates, and men decay."
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