Meanings
present singular third person amasses · participle present amassing · participle past amassed · past amassed
- transitiveto gather a great quantity of; to accumulate.
to amass words or phrases
2 more examples
to amass a treasure or a fortune
[…] he reluctantly returned to the old Nevada mines, there to recruit his health and to amass money enough to allow him to pursue his object without privation.
1887, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter V, in A Study in Scarlet Part II, page 123Synonyms: accumulate
- intransitiveTo accumulate; to assemble.
plural amasses
- obsoleteA large number of things collected or piled together.
[T]his Pillar [the "Compounded Order"] is nothing in effect, but a Medlie, or an Amaſſe of all the precedent Ornaments, making a nevv kinde, by ſtealth, and though the moſt richly tricked, yet the pooreſt in this, that he is a borrovver of all his Beautie.
1624, Henry Wotton, “The Seate, and the Worke”, in The Elements of Architecture, […], London: […] Iohn Bill, →OCLC, I. part, page 381 more example
[…] others are drawn, not as portraits, not strict copies of these most essential characteristic parts, but filled up afterwards from memory, and a general idea of an amass of arms, without the specific one of a trophæal amass, which is the fact of these bas-relieves.
1788, Thomas Pownall, Notices and Descriptions of Antiquities of the Provincia Romana of Gaul, London: John Nichols, page 22 - obsoleteThe act of amassing.
1 more example
He [the general] must neuer permit the Captaines to depart from the place, where he made the Amasse and collection of the Companies, with their bands out of order or disseuered, although they should depart to some place neere adioyning, vnlesse he were forced by some occasion of great necessity and importance:
1591, William Garrard, The Arte of Warre Book 6, London: Roger Warde, page 339
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo collect into a mass or heap.
verbto gather a great quantity of; to accumulate.
More synonyms by meaning
verbincrease in amount by collecting or gathering
verbget or gather together
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Medieval Latinamassāre
- Anglo-Normanamasser
- Middle English*amassen
- Englishamass
From Middle English *amassen (found only as Middle English massen (“to amass”)), from Anglo-Norman amasser, from Medieval Latin amassāre, from ad + massa (“lump, mass”). See mass.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic جَمَعَ, حَشَّدَ
- جَمَعَ (jamaʕa)to collect into a mass or heap
- حَشَّدَ (ḥaššada)to collect into a mass or heap
- رَكَّمَ (rakkama)to collect into a mass or heap
Bulgarian стру́пвам, стру́пам
- стру́пвам (strúpvam)to collect into a mass or heap
- стру́пам (strúpam)to collect into a mass or heap
- натру́пвам (natrúpvam)to collect into a mass or heap
- съби́рам (săbíram)to collect into a mass or heap
- събера́ (săberá)to collect into a mass or heap
Catalan acabalar, acumular
- acabalarto collect into a mass or heap
- acumularto collect into a mass or heap
Chinese Mandarin 積聚 /积聚
- 積聚 /积聚 (jījù)to collect into a mass or heap
Czech hromadit, nahromadit
- hromaditto collect into a mass or heap
- nahromaditto collect into a mass or heap
- kupitto collect into a mass or heap
- nakupitto collect into a mass or heap
Esperanto amasigi
- amasigito collect into a mass or heap
Finnish kasata, kahmia
- kasatato collect into a mass or heap
- kahmiato collect into a mass or heap
French amasser, s'amasser
- amasserto collect into a mass or heap
- s'amasserto collect into a mass or heap
German ansammeln, zusammensammeln
- ansammelnto collect into a mass or heap
- zusammensammelnto collect into a mass or heap
- zusammenklaubento collect into a mass or heap
- anhäufento collect into a mass or heap
Japanese 積む, 積もる
- 積む (tsumu)to collect into a mass or heap
- 積もる (tsumoru)to collect into a mass or heap
Korean 쌓다, 쌓이다
- 쌓다 (ssata)to collect into a mass or heap
- 쌓이다 (ssaida)to collect into a mass or heap
Latin accumulō
- accumulōto collect into a mass or heap
Malay mengumpulkan
- mengumpulkanto collect into a mass or heap
Polish gromadzić, zgromadzić
- gromadzićto collect into a mass or heap
- zgromadzićto collect into a mass or heap
Portuguese amontoar
- amontoarto collect into a mass or heap
Russian копи́ть, собира́ть
- копи́ть (kopítʹ)to collect into a mass or heap
- собира́ть (sobirátʹ)to collect into a mass or heap
- нака́пливать (nakáplivatʹ)to collect into a mass or heap
- собира́ться (sobirátʹsja)to collect into a mass or heap
- ска́пливаться (skáplivatʹsja)to collect into a mass or heap
- нагроможда́ть (nagromoždátʹ)to collect into a mass or heap
- нагромозди́ть (nagromozdítʹ)to collect into a mass or heap
- нагроможда́ться (nagromoždátʹsja)to collect into a mass or heap
- нагромозди́ться (nagromozdítʹsja)to collect into a mass or heap
Slovak kopiť, nakopiť
- kopiťto collect into a mass or heap
- nakopiťto collect into a mass or heap
- hromadiťto collect into a mass or heap
Spanish amasar
- amasarto collect into a mass or heap
Turkish biriktirmek
- biriktirmekto collect into a mass or heap
Welsh tyrru, pentyrru
- tyrruto collect into a mass or heap
- pentyrruto collect into a mass or heap
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with amass
Anagrams
Cite this entry
amass. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amass
“amass.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amass. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “amass,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amass.
Source: amass on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.