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ag·gre·gate

(ăgrĭ-gĭt)

adj.

1. Constituting or amounting to a whole; total: aggregate sales in that market.

2. Botany Crowded or massed into a dense cluster.

3. Composed of a mixture of minerals separable by mechanical means.

1. A total considered with reference to its constituent parts; a gross amount: "An empire is the aggregate of many states under one common head" (Edmund Burke).

2. The mineral materials, such as sand or stone, used in making concrete.

v. (-gāt′) ag·gre·gat·ed, ag·gre·gat·ing, ag·gre·gates

v.tr.

1. To gather into a mass, sum, or whole: aggregated the donations into one bank account.

2. To amount to; total: Revenues will aggregate more than one million dollars.

3. To collect (content from different sources on the internet) into one webpage or newsreader.

v.intr.

To come together or collect in a mass or whole: "Some [bacteria]aggregate so closely as to mimic a multicellular organism" (Gina Kolata). "The first stars began to form when hydrogen and helium gas left over from the Big Bang aggregated into dense clouds" (Paul Davies).

Idiom:

in the aggregate

Taken into account as a whole: Unit sales for December amounted in the aggregate to 100,000.

[Middle English aggregat, from Latin aggregātus, past participle of aggregāre, to add to : ad-, ad- + gregāre, to collect (from grex, greg-, flock; see ger- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).]

aggre·gate·ly adv.

ag′gre·gation n.

aggre·ga′tive adj.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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