accelerate

The word “accelerate” means to go faster, or to make something go faster. In plain terms, to speed up, whether that's a vehicle, a process, or a timeline.

“Accelerate” is pronounced uhk-SEHL-uh-rayt (/ɪkˈsɛl.əˌɹeɪt/ in IPA).

Here is “accelerate” used in a sentence: “The car accelerated quickly onto the motorway.”

Words with a similar meaning to “accelerate” include quicken and speed up.

The opposite of “accelerate” — its antonyms — are decelerate and unaccelerate.

“Accelerate” is a verb.

The word “accelerate” comes from Latin. From Latin accelerare, "to hasten," built from ad- ("to") plus celerare ("to hasten"), from celer, "swift" — the same root as celerity.

“Accelerate” is an uncommon word in modern English.

Accelerate and hasten both mean to make something happen faster, but accelerate is used more often for physical speed, such as a car accelerating, as well as for processes and timelines. Hasten leans more toward causing an event or outcome to occur sooner, particularly in written or slightly formal contexts.

Yes, accelerate is commonly used for abstract processes as well as physical motion, such as accelerating economic growth or accelerating a project's timeline. In these cases it means making something happen sooner or more quickly than originally planned.

Yes, accelerate can be used intransitively, as in "the car accelerated," or transitively, as in "the driver accelerated the car." Both patterns are standard depending on whether the subject is speeding up on its own or something else is causing the speeding up.