Etymology

accumulate

ac·cu·mu·late
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Today it means: To heap up in a mass; to pile up; to collect or bring together (either literally or figuratively), often gradually and without active intent. Full definition →

Middle English accumylaten ← Latin accumulātus ← Proto-Indo-European *ḱuh₁mósder.?
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
  2. Proto-Italic*ad
  3. Proto-Italic*ad-
  4. Latinad-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*ḱewh₁-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*ḱuh₁mósder.?
  7. Latincumulus
  8. Latincumulō
  9. Latinaccumulō
  10. Latinaccumulātus
  11. Middle Englishaccumylaten
  12. English todayaccumulate

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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.