conjugate

English

Etymology

From the participle stem of Latin conjugāre (“to yoke together”), from con- + jugāre.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈkɒndʒəɡeɪt/

Verb

conjugate (third-person singular simple present conjugates, present participle conjugating, simple past and past participle conjugated)

1. (grammar, transitive) To inflect (a verb) for each person, in order, for one or more tenses.

   In English, the verb 'to be' is conjugated as follows: 'I am', 'you are' (or 'thou art'), 'he/she/it is', 'we are', 'you are', 'they are'.

2. (rare) To join together, unite; to juxtapose.
   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 55:

     The effects of hunger were often conjugated with epidemic disease.

3. (biology) To reproduce sexually as do some bacteria and algae, by exchanging or transferring DNA.

Hypernyms

• inflect

Related terms

• conjugable
• conjugatable
• conjugation
• conjugator

See also

• decline

Translations

to inflect (a verb) for each person

• Asturian: conxugar (ast)
• Bulgarian: спрягам (bg) (sprjagám)
• Catalan: conjugar (ca)
• Czech: časovat (cs)
• Dutch: vervoegen (nl)
• Estonian: pöörama (et)
• Finnish: taivuttaa (fi)
• French: conjuguer (fr)
• Galician: conxugar (gl)
• Georgian: უღლება (ka) (uḡleba)
• German: konjugieren (de)
• Greek: κλίνω (el) (ˈklino̞), κλίνομαι (el) (ˈklino̞ˌme̞) [passive (proportional attitude)]

• Hebrew: היטה (he) (hitá)
• Italian: coniugare (it)
• Jèrriais: conjudgi
• Polish: (intransitive) odmieniać się (pl)
• Portuguese: conjugar (pt)
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: спрягать (ru) (sprjagátʹ) impf., проспрягать (ru) (prosprjagátʹ) pf. (transitive), спрягаться (ru) (sprjagátʹsja) impf., проспрягаться (ru) (prosprjagátʹsja) pf. (intransitive)
• Scottish Gaelic: co-naisg (gd)
• Spanish: conjugar (es)
• Swedish: böja (sv)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can

Noun

conjugate (plural conjugates)

1. Any entity formed by joining two or more smaller entities together.
2. (mathematics) (of a complex number) A complex conjugate.
3. (mathematics) More generally, any of a set of irrational or complex numbers that are zeros of the same polynomial with integral coefficients.
4. (mathematics) An explementary angle.
5. (grammar) A word agreeing in derivation with another word, and therefore generally resembling it in meaning.
   • Archbishop Bramhall

     We have learned, in logic, that conjugates are sometimes in name only, and not in deed.

Translations

entity formed by joining smaller ones

• Finnish: yhdistelmä (fi), konjugaatti (fi)

• Russian: однокоренно́е сло́во (ru) (odnokorennóje slóvo) n

math: complex conjugate — see complex conjugate

math: any of a set of zeros of a polynomial

math: explementary angle

• Finnish: eksplementtikulma (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: съединение (bg) (sǎedinenie) n

• Swedish: konjugat (sv)