Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Cumulative"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Cumulative \Cu"mu*la*tive\ (k?"m?-l?-t?v), a. [Cf. F.
cumulatif.]
1. Composed of parts in a heap; forming a mass; aggregated.
``As for knowledge which man receiveth by teaching, it is
cumulative, not original.'' --Bacon
2. Augmenting, gaining, or giving force, by successive
additions; as, a cumulative argument, i. e., one whose
force increases as the statement proceeds.
The argument . . . is in very truth not logical and
single, but moral and cumulative. --Trench.
3. (Law)
(a) Tending to prove the same point to which other
evidence has been offered; -- said of evidence.
(b) Given by same testator to the same legatee; -- said of
a legacy. --Bouvier. --Wharton.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
cumulative
adj : increasing by successive addition; "the benefits are
cumulative"; "the eventual accumulative effect of these
substances" [syn: {accumulative}]
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