cumulative

Etymology

It is formed from English cumulate + -ive,^[2][3] the verb being from Latin cumulō (“to heap up”), from cumulus (“heap”).^[4][5] The OED and Etymonline instead take it straight from cumulātus, the participle of the Latin verb, with the English suffix.^[5][4] Etymonline traces cumulus to a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *keue- (“to swell”).^[4] The OED and the Shorter Oxford compare French cumulatif.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Formed by heaping up or accumulation, as opposed to growing organically: 1605, in Francis Bacon, "As for knowledge which man receiveth by teaching, it is cumulative and not original".^[5][2][6] This sense was used only in the early 17th century.^[2][5][4]

Semantic evolution

The lasting sense, "increasing by successive additions", appeared in the mid-17th century: the OED's first record is from 1668,^[5] while Etymonline finds it implied in cumulatively in the 1640s.^[4] It was used especially of evidence and arguments that grow in force as further points are added.^[5][6] The phrase cumulative effect is recorded from 1856.^[5] Specialized uses followed: in Scots law, of a jurisdiction shared with another (1746);^[5][2] cumulative voting, in which each voter has as many votes as there are seats and may give them all to one candidate (1853, in J. S. Mill);^[5][2] in mathematics, of an error (1887) and, since 1950, of a probability distribution.^[5] In finance, cumulative shares or dividends are those whose unpaid dividends accrue until they can be paid.^[7][2][8]

Timeline

• 1605 – formed by accumulation rather than growth (obsolete), in Bacon.^[5][6]
• 1640s – increasing by additions, implied in cumulatively.^[4]
• 1668 – arising from accumulation; growing in force by successive additions.^[5]
• 1746 – in Scots law, of jurisdiction: concurrent.^[5]
• 1853 – cumulative vote.^[5]
• 1856 – cumulative effect.^[5]
• 1873 – tending to accumulate.^[5]
• 1887 – in mathematics, of an error.^[5]
• 1950 – of a probability distribution.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Growing in amount, strength or effect by successive additions: the cumulative toll of years of drought.^[6][7][8]
2. Resulting from or gained by gradual accumulation.^[7][8]
3. (finance) Of dividends or interest: added to the next payment if not paid when due; of preference shares, entitling the holder to such arrears.^[7][8][2]
4. (statistics) Of a frequency or distribution: including all values up to a given value.^[7][2]
5. (law) Of evidence, supporting a point already proved by other evidence; of a sentence, taking effect when another ends; of a penalty, more severe for a repeat offence.^[6][8]
6. cumulative voting: a system in which each voter has as many votes as there are seats and may give them all to one candidate.^[2][5]

Word family

• cumulatively
• cumulativeness
• noncumulative
• cumulative distribution function
• cumulative voting

Related words

• cumulate
• accumulate
• accumulation
• cumulus

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin