DictionaryRoot: ad-
Latin

ad-

to, toward; addition; sometimes emphasis

Forms

  • ad-
  • ac- — Used before c in Latin.
  • af- — Used before f in Latin.
  • ag- — Used before g in Latin.
  • al- — Used before l in Latin.
  • ap- — Used before p in Latin.
  • ar- — Used before r in Latin.
  • as- — Used before s in Latin.
  • at- — Used before t in Latin.

Origin

Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *ad, ‘to; near.’

Note

Later Latin-based spellings sometimes restored consonants that had disappeared in French.

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verb

amass

uh-MASS/əˈmæs/

To collect a large amount of something.

The woman amasses a large collection by repeatedly adding coins to her jars.

A three-stage visual sequence shows the same woman repeatedly adding coins to her collection: a few coins in one jar, several filled jars, then a large accumulation of filled jars and coin stacks.
Etymology

The pieces suggest bringing things together into a heap. The early meaning “heap up for oneself” supplies the image behind accumulating a large quantity over time.

In context

ThinkTech Hawaii12:49
… it's how can i best amass a whole lot of information simplify it as much as possible …
KHON2 Anchor Gina Mangieri (Beyond The Lines)

More examples

  • He amassed considerable savings over thirty years.
  • They hope to amass enough evidence to reconstruct the event.
  • The team is amassing data from hundreds of observation sites.

Forms

amass · amasses · amassed · amassing

Similar words

collect
Does not necessarily imply a large quantity.
accumulate
Can describe gradual buildup without a deliberate collector.