accelerate
UK /əkˈsɛl.əˌɹeɪt/ · US /ɪkˈsɛl.əˌɹeɪt/ verb, adjective
Forms accelerates accelerating accelerated
- verb (transitive) To cause to move faster; to quicken the motion of; to add to the speed of.
- verb (transitive) To quicken the natural or ordinary progression or process of. “to accelerate the growth of a plant, the increase of wealth, etc.”
- verb (transitive, physics) To cause a change of velocity.
- verb (transitive) To hasten, as the occurrence of an event. “to accelerate our departure”
- verb (transitive, education) To enable a student to finish a course of study in less than normal time.
- verb (intransitive) To become faster; to begin to move more quickly. “The car began to accelerate as soon as the light turned green.”
- verb (intransitive) Grow; increase.
- adjective (archaic) Accelerated; quickened; hastened; hurried.
Synonyms
hasten expedite further advance forward quicken speed up speed
Antonyms
Etymology
First attested in the 1520s. Either from Latin accelerātus, perfect passive participle of accelerō (“to accelerate, hasten”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), formed from ad + celerō (“to hasten”), which is from celer (“quick”) (see celerity), or back-formation from acceleration.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To cause to move faster; to quicken the motion of; to add to the speed of; --opposed to retard.
- verb To quicken the natural or ordinary progression or process of; as, to accelerate the growth of a plant, the increase of wealth, etc.
Etymology [L. acceleratus, p. p. of accelerare; ad + celerare to hasten; celer quick. See Celerity.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “accelerate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details