NYT Dictionary

CUMULATE

/ˈkju.mjəˌleɪt/

VerbAdjectiveNounCU-mu-latecu-mu-late · 3 syllablesAdvanced/Professional

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2025

Meaning

To accumulate; to amass.

Etymology

Origin: Latin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *ḱuh₁mósder.? Latin cumulus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin cumulō Latin cumulātusbor. English cumulate First attested in 1534; borrowed from Latin cumulātus, perfect passive participle of cumulō (“to pile up”), see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3). Sporadic use of the participle up until Early Modern English.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

amassheap upsee Thesaurus:pile upaccumulateconglomerategatheracquireaggregateamassedassemble

NYT Puzzle Appearances

No published puzzle dates on file for this word yet. It is part of the official NYT Spelling Bee word list for 2025.