accumulative
/əˈkjuːmjəˌleɪtɪv/uh-KYOO-myuh-lay-tiv
/əˈkjumjəˌleɪtɪv/uh-KYOO-myuh-lay-tiv
Meaningtending to accumulate
Common meaning: tending to accumulate (inferred)
- acto, towards
- cumula heapLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 496 · scan
- atverb or adjective ending: to make, having
- iveadjective ending: tending to
‘to, towards’ + ‘a heap’ → accumulative
Journey through time
- Latincumulus, -ī‘a heap’
- Englishaccumulate‘to pile up over time’
- Englishformed in English from accumulateaccumulative‘tending to accumulate (inferred)’ · today
Sources & notes
Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: tending to accumulate. It can be inferred from any of: accumulate.
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from accumulate + -ive (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).
Roots
- cumulus, -ī Latin “a heap”
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