accelerate

/ik-ˈse-lə-ˌrāt/

borrowed from Latin accelerātus, past participle of accelerāre "to add speed to, hasten the occurrence of, go quickly," from ad- ad-celerāre "to hasten," verbal derivative of celer "swift, speedy," perhaps going back to *keli-li-/ri-, derivative from the Indo-European verbal base *kelh- "set in motion," whence also Greek (o)kéllō, (o)kéllein "to bring (a ship, person) to shore," Lithuanian keliù, kélti "to settle (farm animals) on a different pasture," Tocharian A källāskeṃ "(they) bring," śala "(s/he) brought," Tocharian B kalṣtar "(s/he) goads, drives (animals)"

verb

  1. to move faster : to gain speed

  2. to progress from grade to grade more rapidly than usual : to follow a speeded-up educational program

  3. to bring about at an earlier time

The car slowly accelerated.