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

Did you know?

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

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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 The view of many economists and financial market analysts is that the current rate cut, relatively insignificant in itself, predicts the future trend in rate cuts which will eventually cumulate to produce a more substantial impact. —

George Calhoun, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024 An Ohio town took celebrating the total solar eclipse to a level above barbecues and tailgates on Tuesday, instead hosting one huge eclipse party that cumulated in over 100 marriages and vow renewals. —

Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 9 Apr. 2024 Kononenko cumulated the days in space over several missions. —

Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 5 June 2024 Mary Walrath-Holdridge An Ohio town took celebrating the total solar eclipse to a level above barbecues and tailgates on Tuesday, instead hosting one huge eclipse party that cumulated in over 100 marriages and vow renewals. —

USA TODAY, 9 Apr. 2024 In France, the sentences can’t be cumulated even if there are dozens of victims. —

Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 26 Feb. 2024 The series also lured 3 million views online in just eight days and has now cumulated 5.2 million views to date on France Televisions’ VOD platform. —

Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 26 Feb. 2024