add
- 1To join or put one thing with another, or several things together, so as to increase the number, amount, or size, or to form a single whole.
The museum plans to add three galleries to its east wing.
Stir the batter gently after adding the eggs.
UsageUsually add something to something: add salt to the soup.
Similarinclude, incorporate, append, attach, combine
- 2To say or write something further, in addition to what has already been said.
The spokesperson added that no one had been injured.
I should add that the offer expires on Friday.
UsageOften add that + clause, or after direct speech, as in she added.
Note
Storytellers and reporters use it like said, with the sense of something tacked on. It introduces either a that-clause, as in Macaulay's he added that he would willingly consent, or a direct quotation, as in Baum's then she added, “But, if I do…”. In the first person, I should add flags an afterthought of one's own.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Macaulay wrote the quoted wording in The History of England from the Accession of James II, Chapter XI; he is reporting William's message. en.wikisource.org
- The quoted wording occurs in L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chapter XXIII; Glinda speaks the dialogue. gutenberg.org
- 3To make something greater or more intense, used with to.
Rising rents add to the pressure on young families.
Each new rumor added to the confusion in the newsroom.
Similarcontribute
Note
Compare the joining sense: adding the eggs to the batter puts eggs in, but adding to the confusion puts nothing in, it only makes the confusion worse.
- 4To carry out addition in arithmetic, combining numbers to find their sum.
Most calculators add and subtract in a fraction of a second.
Children learn to add long before they learn to multiply.
UsageOften paired with subtract; for a list of numbers, say add them up.
Oppositesubtract
Note
Mathematics calls the numbers being added addends, or terms, and the result their sum; the order of the addends never changes it, so 3 + 5 and 5 + 3 agree. Subtraction is the inverse operation, undoing what adding does.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The numbers being added are called addends or terms. en.wikipedia.org
- The result of addition is called the sum. en.wikipedia.org
- Changing the order of addends preserves their sum, so 3 + 5 equals 5 + 3. catalogimages.wiley.com
- Subtraction is the inverse of addition. catalogimages.wiley.com
Less common meanings
- 5To make someone a friend or contact on a social network, online game or messaging service.
I'll add you once I get home, so send me your username.
He added half the server after the tournament.
UsageOften used with on and the platform name: add me on Discord.
Similarfriend
Oppositeunfriend
Note
This is a clipped use: add someone as a friend, or to a contact list, shortens to plain add, and the list goes unsaid.
- 6In computing, a single act of adding, treated as one operation.
- 7In radio, the placing of a song on a station's playlist.
- 8In video games, an extra enemy that joins a fight later than the main target.
- 9In video games, of an extra enemy, to join a fight already under way; also, of a boss, to bring such enemies into the fight.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English adden, from Latin addō (“add, give unto”).
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- English add descends from Middle English adden. en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English adden derives from Latin addō. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin addō means 'add' or 'give unto'. en.wiktionary.org