Poly, 151: Etymology, 71: English accelerate, acceleration Poly, 152, Spanish: adehala, adelantado Poly, 153, Portuguese: acocorar-se, açodar, açoitar

Polysemy, 120: and Etymology, 60: English “accelerate, acceleration” Polysemy, 121: Spanish “adehala, adelantado” Portuguese “acocorar-se, açodar, acoitar, açoitar”

These two related words in English, “accelerate” and “acceleration” have 5 and 3 senses respectively as well as their etymology.  

accelerate

1) (intransitive verb) move faster, gain speed: The number of hurricanes has accelerated in the last ten years.

2) (intransitive verb) progress from grade to grade more rapidly than usual: She accelerated to her senior year at 14 years old.

3) (transitive verb) bring about an earlier time: The anticipated arrival of the hurricane accelerated the departure of the cruise ship.

4) (transitive verb) to cause to move faster: She accelerated her steps so she would not arrive late.

5) (transitive verb) hasten the progress or development of: They accelerated their efforts to produce the vaccinations ASAP.

First known use was in 1522 and that was in the sense found in number 3 above.

History and Etymology: borrowed from Latin "acceleraturs, past participle of "accelerare" to add speed to, hast the occurrence of, go quickly," from AD + "celerare" "to hasten" verbal derivative of "celer" "swift, speedy". This potentially came from "keli-li-/ri", derivative from the Indo-European base of Greek "Kélomai, kelésthai" "urge, exhort" "kelet, Kéles, Kéles "swoft horse, charger"

acceleration

1) the act or process of moving faster or happening more quickly: the acceleration of the GDP

2) ability to accelerate: Electric cars had the ability good acceleration in comparison to gas guzzlers/

3) In physics, the rate of change of velocity with regard to time

History and Etymology

The first known use in sense 1 above was in the 15th century.

It was borrowed from Anglo-French "acceleratiun" and Latin "acceleration" and "acceleratio", from "accelerare"

The two Spanish words that follow, “adehala” and “adelantado”, have 2 and 17 senses respectively. 

adehala

1) tip, gratuity; 2) bonus, work bonus

adelantado

1) adelantado, avanzado: advanced un cantante avanzado que detaca a temprana edad: a precocious singer at an early age 

2) adelantado, acelerado: fast, fast-paced 

3) adelantado, pagado por adelantado: upfront, up-front, advance: alquiler cobrado por adelantado: rent collected in advance 

4) descuento por adelantado: unearned discount 

5) gasto pagado por adelantado: prepaid expenses 

6) haber adelantado mucho: have come a long way 

7) indicador adelantado: leading indicator 

8) muy adelantado: far ahead 

9) pagaré con opción de pago adelantado: acceleration note 

10) países menos adelantados: least advanced countries 

11) pedido por adelantado: preorder 

12) reintegro por adelantado: advance refunding 

13) suponer por adelantado: beg the question 

14) vistazo por adelantado: sneak preview 

15) [sports] pase adelantado: forward pass 

16) adelantado por su época: ahead of his or her time 

17) el reloj está adelantado: the clock or watch is fast

The 4 Portuguese verbs that follow are “acocorar-se, açodar, acoitar, açoitar” and have 2, 3, 3, and 4 senses respectively. 

acocorar-se

1) pôr-se de cócoras: squat; o rapaz se acocorava quinze minutos cada dia para reduzir a pança: the guy would squat fifteen minutes every day to reduce his potbelly. 

2) rebaixar-se: back down; A Ucrânia não se pode acocorar diante da agressão da Rusia: Ukraine cannot back down in light of Russia's aggression. 

açodar

1) instigar: stir up as rebeliões só açodaram os ánimos: the rebellions just stirred up people's emotions

2) appresar: urge on 

3) açular: incite 

acoitar

1) acolher: shelter

2) proteger: protect

3) esconder: hide

açoitar

1) açoitar um cavalo, fustigar um cavalo: whip a horse

2) açoitar um escravo: flog a slave

3) açoitar a casa, sacudir a casa: batter the house

4) o furação que açoutou Fort Myers, a furação que devastou Fort Myers: the hurricane that devastated Fort Myers