cumulate

verb

cu·​mu·​late ˈkyü-myə-ˌlāt 

cumulated; cumulating

transitive verb

1

: to gather or pile in a heap

2

: to combine into one

3

: 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

Wage rates for factory work rose a little faster than inflation over this time period, cumulating to a 20% gain. —Bill Conerly, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025

Beijing has ramped up economic support since late September, but measures so far have not cumulated in the large-scale stimulus that many investors have hoped for. —Evelyn Cheng,anniek Bao, CNBC, 28 Apr. 2025

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

Word History

Etymology

Latin cumulatus, past participle of cumulare, from cumulus mass

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for cumulate

• abdicate
• abrogate
• acetate
• activate
• actuate
• adsorbate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate

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