cumulative

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   increasing or becoming stronger through successive additions

   The cumulative effect of several sleepless nights left him exhausted.

2. 2
   adj

   including all amounts, results, or data recorded up to a given point

   The chart shows cumulative sales since the product launched.

From cumulate + -ive, modeled in part on French cumulatif. Cumulate comes from Latin cumulatus, the past participle of cumulare, "to heap up," from cumulus, "heap." The word therefore describes something built into a heap or total by repeated additions.

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