Other forms: amassed, amassing, amasses
To amass is to gather a great quantity over time. Amass a fortune, amassed evidence, amass a collection.
The time is built in — you amass gradually, which is why the word suits fortunes and collections and not a single windfall. It usually takes an object of some scale. The Latin massa means a lump, which is also behind mass.
1verbamassTo gather a great quantity over time.
“Over a lifetime he amassed a huge collection of stamps.”
amass is a gathering.
Anglo-Norman amasser comes from Latin ad plus massa, a lump or mass.
Medieval Latin
amassāre
Anglo-Norman
amasser
Middle English
*amassen
English, today
amass
Built from
From Middle English amassen (found only as Middle English massen (“to amass”)), from Anglo-Norman amasser, from Medieval Latin amassāre, from ad + massa (“lump, mass”). See mass.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA