Leaf Spelling Dictionary

Why do people write accuminate?

stress-doubleA doubled consonant is the standard English signal for a short stressed vowel. Acuminate has a long stressed vowel and no doubled consonant anywhere in it.

heard asaccuminate
spelledacuminate
saiduh-KYOO-min-ut

One c: acuminate.

Accumulate is almost certainly the culprit. It sounds close, it starts the same way, it is far more common in ordinary English, and it genuinely does have two c's. The two words are unrelated. Accumulate comes from cumulus, a heap. Acuminate comes from acumen, a point.

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