Addere

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To combine or join something to an existing whole; to increase a quantity by including an additional amount; to attribute or ascribe a quality or statement to something or someone
2. To bring together parts so as to form a larger unit; to augment a total by incorporating extra elements; to assign a characteristic or comment to an object or individual
3. To unite or attach one thing to another; to enhance a sum by including further increments; to credit or link a remark or trait to a subject or person

Etymology: "Addere" is Latin, and it is a compound of "ad" ("to, toward") and "dare" ("to give, put"), so its literal sense is "to put toward" or "to put on." That physical image of placing one thing onto another is the root of every sense listed here, from adding a sum to attributing a remark to someone. The sense of joining and adding came from setting one thing alongside another, and the sense of ascribing a quality grew from the same act of putting something onto a thing or person. English took the word in its Latin form, and it survives mainly in its past participle "additus," which gave English "add" and its relatives. The verb itself is not used in modern English, so the word's life now lies in the family it produced. "Addition," "additive," and "additional" all trace back to this single Latin verb.