cumulate

verb

cu·mu·late ˈkyü-myə-ˌlāt

cumulated; cumulating

transitive verb

: to gather or pile in a heap

: to combine into one

: to build up by addition of new material

intransitive verb

: to become massed

cumulate

ˈkyü-myə-lət -ˌlāt

adjective

cumulation

ˌkyü-myə-ˈlā-shən

noun

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Cumulate and its far more common relative accumulate both come from the Latin word cumulare, meaning "to heap up." Cumulare, in turn, comes from cumulus, meaning "mass." (Cumulus functions as an English word in its own right as well. It can mean "heap" or "accumulation," or it can refer to a kind of dense puffy cloud with a flat base and rounded outlines.) Cumulate and accumulate overlap in meaning, but you're likely to find cumulate mostly in technical contexts. The word's related adjective, cumulative, however, is used more widely.

Examples of cumulate in a Sentence

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Trump’s policies, the model calculates, will cumulate to $5.8 trillion more over this period. —Milton Ezrati, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024 The album was rolled out in four parts, with the final release cumulating all installments. —Lisa Kocay, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024