Meanings
present singular third person accumulates · participle present accumulating · participle past accumulated · past accumulated
- transitiveTo 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.
1 more example
In these stellar pairings, if the two stars are close together, the white dwarf will siphon mass away from its companion and have an outburst called a nova. And when the white dwarf accumulates too much mass, it will collapse and explode in a supernova.
2024 August 21, Ashley Strickland, “An unusual object is moving so fast it could escape the Milky Way. Scientists aren’t certain what it is”, in CNN, archived from the original on 24 Sep 2024Synonyms: amass, heap, hoard, store, agglomerate, amass, build up, cumulate
- intransitiveTo 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.
1 more example
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, / Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.
1770, Oliver Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, lines 17–18 - datededucationTo take a higher degree at the same time with a lower degree, or at a shorter interval than usual.
- not comparablepoeticrareCollected; accumulated.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo heap up in a mass; to pile up; to collect or bring together (either literally or figuratively), often gradually and without active intent.
More synonyms by meaning
verbincrease in amount by collecting or gathering
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
- Proto-Italic*ad
- Proto-Italic*ad-
- Latinad-
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱuh₁mósder.?
- Latincumulus
- Latincumulō
- Latinaccumulō
- Latinaccumulātus
- Middle Englishaccumylaten
- Englishaccumulate
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.
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian натру́пвам, натру́пам
- натру́пвам (natrúpvam)to pile up
- натру́пам (natrúpam)to pile up
- съби́рам се (săbíram se)to grow in number
- увелича́вам се (uveličávam se)to grow in number
Catalan acumular, acumular
- acumularto pile up
- acumularto grow in number
Chinese Cantonese 儲埋 /储埋
- 儲埋 /储埋 (cou⁵ maai⁴)to pile up
Chinese Mandarin 積累 /积累, 積累 /积累
- 積累 /积累 (jīlěi)to pile up
- 積累 /积累 (jīlěi)to grow in number
Danish akkumulere
- akkumulereto pile up
Dutch opstapelen, vermeerderen
- opstapelento pile up
- vermeerderento pile up
- accumulerento pile up
- zich opstapelento grow in number
- (zich) vermeerderento grow in number
- accumulerento grow in number
Esperanto amasigi, amasiĝi
- amasigito pile up
- amasiĝito grow in number
Finnish kasata, kerätä
- kasatato pile up
- kerätäto pile up
- kerääntyäto pile up
- kasaantuato grow in number
- kerääntyäto grow in number
- akkumuloituato grow in number
French accumuler, accumuler
- accumulerto pile up
- accumulerto grow in number
German aufstauen, sich vermehren
- aufstauento pile up
- sich vermehrento grow in number
Hebrew צָבַר, אָגַר
- צָבַר (tsavár)to pile up
- אָגַר (agár)to pile up
- הִצְטַבֵּר (hitstabér)to grow in number
- נֶאֱגַר (ne'egár)to grow in number
Hungarian felgyülemlik, felhalmoz
- felgyülemlikto pile up
- felhalmozto pile up
Indonesian akumulasi
- akumulasito grow in number
Irish tiomsaigh
- tiomsaighto pile up
Italian accumularsi
- accumularsito grow in number
Japanese 積む, 蓄積する
- 積む (tsumu)to pile up
- 蓄積するto grow in number
- 溜まる (tamaru)to grow in number
Korean 모으다, 축적하다
- 모으다 (mo'euda)to pile up
- 축적하다 (chukjeokhada)to pile up
- 쌓다 (ssata)to pile up
- 쌓이다 (ssaida)to grow in number
Latin accumulō, cumulō
- accumulōto pile up
- cumulōto pile up
- accumulōto grow in number
Persian اندوختن, انباردن
- اندوختن (anduxtan)to pile up
- انباردن (anbārdan)to pile up
Polish akumulować, zakumulować
- akumulowaćto pile up
- zakumulowaćto pile up
- akumulować sięto grow in number
- zakumulować sięto grow in number
Portuguese acumular, acumular
- acumularto pile up
- acumularto grow in number
Russian нака́пливать, копи́ть
- нака́пливать (nakáplivatʹ)to pile up
- копи́ть (kopítʹ)to pile up
- накопи́ть (nakopítʹ)to pile up
- аккумули́ровать (akkumulírovatʹ)to pile up
- собира́ть (sobirátʹ)to pile up
- собра́ть (sobrátʹ)to pile up
- нака́пливаться (nakáplivatʹsja)to grow in number
- копи́ться (kopítʹsja)to grow in number
- накопи́ться (nakopítʹsja)to grow in number
- собира́ться (sobirátʹsja)to grow in number
- собра́ться (sobrátʹsja)to grow in number
- увели́чиваться (uvelíčivatʹsja)to grow in number
Spanish acumular, acumularse
- acumularto pile up
- acumularseto grow in number
Swedish ackumulera
- ackumulerato pile up
Thai เก็บ
- เก็บ (gèp)to pile up
Ukrainian накопи́чувати, накопи́чити
- накопи́чувати (nakopýčuvaty)to pile up
- накопи́чити (nakopýčyty)to pile up
- нагрома́джувати (nahromádžuvaty)to pile up
- нагрома́дити (nahromádyty)to pile up
- акумулюва́ти (akumuljuváty)to pile up
Cite this entry
accumulate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/accumulate
“accumulate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/accumulate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “accumulate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/accumulate.
Source: accumulate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.