conjugate
/ˈkɑn.d͡ʒə.ɡeɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.86 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To inflect (a verb) for each person, in order, for one or more tenses; to list or recite its principal parts.
Transitive verb
verb
To temporarily fuse, exchanging or transferring DNA.
noun
noun
More generally, any of a set of irrational or complex numbers that are zeros of the same polynomial with integral coefficients.
noun
Given a field extension L / K and an element α ∈ L, any other element β ∈ L that is another root of the minimal polynomial of α over K.
Example Sentences
- "In English, the verb 'to be' is conjugated as follows: 'I am', 'you are', 'he/she/it is', 'we are', 'you are', 'they are'."
- "The effects of hunger were often conjugated with epidemic disease."
- "17th c, John Bramhall, We have learned in logic, that conjugates are sometimes in name only, and not in deed."
- "Some of the most widely-applied Gresley features will doubtless long remain a subject of controversy among locomotive engineers, and in particular his patent conjugate valve-motion for 3-cylinder engines, whereby the piston-valve of the middle cylinder derives its motion from the two outside Walschaerts valve-gears."
Etymology
The adjective (as “combined, united”) and noun are first attested in 1471, in Middle English, the verb in 1530; partly from Middle English conjugat(e) (“combined, united”), partly directly borrowed from New Latin coniugātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin coniugō (“to yoke together, combine; (New Latin) to conjugate, decline, inflect”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from con- (“with”) + iugō (“to join”). In Classical Latin, the word for conjugate (grammar) was dēclīnō, coniugō is a later back-formation from post-classical coniugātiō (“conjugation, declension”).
Origin
- Source language: Middle English
- First known use: first attested in 1471
Word Breakdown
- Root: *yewg-, conjugat, coniugō
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɑn.d͡ʒə.ɡeɪt/
- British English: /ˈkɒn.d͡ʒə.ɡeɪt/