"tending to accumulation; cumulative," 1650s, from Latin stem accumulat- (see accumulate) + -ive. Related: Accumulatively; accumulativeness.
Entries linking to accumulative
accumulate v.
1520s, "to heap up" (transitive), from Latin accumulatus, past participle of accumulare "to heap up, amass," from ad "to," here perhaps emphatic (see ad-), + cumulare "heap up," from cumulus "heap" (from suffixed form of PIE root *keue- "to swell"). From 1759 in intransitive sense of "grow in size or number." Related: Accumulated; accumulating.
-ive
word-forming element making adjectives from verbs, meaning "pertaining to, tending to; doing, serving to do," in some cases from Old French -if, but usually directly from Latin adjectival suffix -ivus (source also of Italian and Spanish -ivo). In some words borrowed from French at an early date it has been reduced to -y (as in hasty, tardy).