Amass
/əˈmæs/noun
To gather or collect a large amount of something.
Did you know?Amass comes through Old French from a Latin root meaning “in a heap,” so the word originally pictured piling things up physically before it became a metaphor for wealth or power.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*mag-
“To knead or form into a lump or mass”
Latin
Latin
massa
“A lump, dough, or heap”
Late Latin
Latin
amassare
“To heap up, collect together”
Old French
Old French
amasser
“To gather, collect, pile up”
Middle English
English
amassen
“To collect in a heap or pile”
Modern English
English
amass
“To gather and accumulate in quantity”