accumulation

American  

[uh-kyoo-myuh-ley-shuhn] / əˌkju mjəˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

accumulations plural

1. act or state of accumulating; state of being accumulated.

2. that which is accumulated; an accumulated amount, number, or mass.

3. growth by continuous additions, as of interest to principal.

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accumulation British  

/ əˌkjuːmjʊˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of collecting together or becoming collected

2. something that has been collected, gathered, heaped, etc

3. finance

   1. the continuous growth of capital by retention of interest or earnings

   2. (in computing the yield on a bond purchased at a discount) the amount that is added to each yield to bring the cost of the bond into equality with its par value over its life Compare amortization

4. the taking of a first and an advanced university degree simultaneously

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonaccumulation
  noun
• overaccumulation
  noun
• preaccumulation
  noun
• reaccumulation
  noun
• superaccumulation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• accumulations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of accumulation

First recorded in 1480–90, accumulation is from the Latin word accumulātiōn- (stem of accumulātiō ). See accumulate, -ion

Explanation

An accumulation is a gathering or increase of something over time. You might cross your fingers in hopes of a large accumulation of snow, so that you get a day off of school. Accumulation comes from a Latin word meaning "to heap up." The word continues to have this feeling of something growing upwards on top of itself, as if in a heap. If you keep putting money in the bank, the amount you have is the accumulation of your savings. If it is an interest bearing account, the interest will accumulate, making the total even larger.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

accumulation accumulations

Reintroducing the protein improved the cells' ability to fold and transport proinsulin while reducing the accumulation of improperly folded copies.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

After mastering the accumulation phase of your wealth journey, managing the distribution phase can get increasingly tricky.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026

Siegel said Fat Brands’ bankruptcy stemmed from its severe debt accumulation, not the underperformance of any particular restaurant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Some places with fires had low snow accumulation last winter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

There was a box filled with violins, an accumulation of stuffed dead animals, chairs without seats, books and prints.

From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman

As the Eaton and Palisades fires roared across the Altadena area and the coastal Santa Monica Mountains in January 2025, the flames were fueled in part by accumulations of bone-dry chaparral, brush and other vegetation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

There is also a wider yellow warning across the rest of eastern Scotland where rainfall accumulations of 30-60mm will be seen widely.

From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2026

But people don’t buy annuities and remain reluctant to tap their accumulations.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026

Work led by the University of Southampton demonstrates that these accumulations of broken lava, created as underwater mountains erode, act as natural reservoirs for CO2.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 11, 2025

In 1944, when Planck was eighty-five, an Allied bomb fell on his house and he lost everything–papers, diaries, a lifetime of accumulations.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• accretion
• aggregation
• buildup
• growth
• inflation
• pile
• quantity