Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of 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. {Cumulative action} (Med.), that action of certain drugs, by virtue of which they produce, when administered in small doses repeated at considerable intervals, the same effect as if given in a single large dose. {Cumulative poison}, a poison the action of which is cumulative. {Cumulative vote} or {system of voting} (Politics), that system which allows to each voter as many votes as there are persons to be voted for, and permits him to accumulate these votes upon one person, or to distribute them among the candidates as he pleases.