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Origin and history of add

add(v.)

late 14c., "to join or unite (something to something else)," from Latin addere "add to, join, attach, place upon," literal and figurative, from ad "to" (see ad-) + -dere, combining form meaning "to put, place," from dare "to give" (from PIE root *do- "to give").

The intransitive meaning "to do sums, do addition" also is from late 14c. Related: Added; adding. To add up is from 1754; in the figurative meaning "make sense," by 1942. Adding machine "machine to cast up large sums" is from 1822.

add

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to add

added(adj.)

"additional," c. 1600, past-participle adjective from add (v.).

addendum(n.)

1794, "an appendix to a work; a thing to be added," from Latin addendum, neuter of addendus "that which is to be added," gerundive of addere "add to, join, attach" (see add (v.)). The classical plural form is addenda.

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Trends of add

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

subtract
1530s, "withdraw, withhold, take away" (transitive), a back-formation from subtraction (q.v.), or else from Latin subtractus, past participle of subtrahere "take away, draw off." Related: Subtracted; subtracting. Mathematical calculation sense is from 1550s. Earlier verb form was
attention deficit disorder
(abbreviated ADD), introduced as a diagnosis in the third edition of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (1980), from attention in the "power of mental concentration" sense. Expanded to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ("the co-existence of attenti
sum
c. 1300, somme, summe, "a quantity or amount of money," from Anglo-French and Old French summe, somme "amount, total; collection; essential point; summing up, conclusion" (13c., Modern French somme), from Latin summa "the top, summit; chief place, highest rank; main thing, chief
fortify
Meaning "add liquor or alcohol" is from 1880; meaning "add nutrients to food" is from 1939....
adjective
neuter of adjectivus "added," past participle of adicere "throw to, fling at, throw or place (a thing) near," especially "add...in addition, add by way of increase," from ad "to" (see ad-) + combining form of iacere "to throw" (from PIE root *ye- "...
decorative
decus (genitive decoris) "an ornament; grace, dignity, honor," from PIE root *dek- "to take, accept" (on the notion of "to add...
decorum
grace, ornament," from decus (genitive decoris) "an ornament," from PIE root *dek- "to take, accept" (on the notion of "to add...
include
early 15c., "to shut (someone or something) in materially, enclose, imprison, confine," also "to have (something) as a constituent part," from Latin includere "to shut in, enclose, imprison, insert," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + claudere "to shut" (see close (v.)). Th
change
c. 1200, "to alter, make different, change" (transitive); early 13c. as "to substitute one for another;" mid-13c. as "to make (something) other than what it was, cause to turn or pass from one state to another;" from late 13c. as "to become different, be altered" (intransitive),
dust
"fine, dry particles of earth or other matter so light that they can be raised and carried by the wind," Old English dust, from Proto-Germanic *dunstaz (source also of Old High German tunst "storm, breath," German Dunst "mist, vapor," Danish dyst "milldust," Dutch duist), from PI

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