acumulate

Acumulate is a variant spelling of accumulate, a verb meaning to gather or collect something gradually over time. In modern English, accumulate is the standard form, and acumulate is typically regarded as archaic, regional, or a misspelling rather than a preferred spelling in contemporary writing. Acumulate may appear in older texts or in contexts where historical spellings are preserved, but it is not commonly used today.

The word derives from Latin accumulare, formed from ad- “toward” and cumulare “to heap up,” with cumulus meaning “a heap.” English adopted the form accumulate through French and Latin routes, and the spelling with two consecutive c’s reflects the underlying root cumulus. The single-c variant acumulate parallels earlier orthographic practices found in some manuscripts, but it has largely fallen out of use in modern standard English.

Usage notes: In current practice, accumulate is the accepted spelling. The verb is transitive (“to accumulate wealth”) and intransitive (“to accumulate over time”). The related noun is accumulation, and related adjectives include cumulative or accumulative, depending on context. When editing or writing formal texts, acumulate is usually corrected to accumulate to prevent ambiguity and to align with contemporary norms.