copulate

English

Etymology

Latin copulare (“to couple”) perfect participle, from stem copulat-.

Pronunciation

• (verb)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒp.jʊ.leɪt/

    • Audio (Southern England)

      (file)

  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.pjə.leɪt/

    • Audio (US)

      (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɒpjəleɪt
• (adjective)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒp.jʊ.lət/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.pjə.lət/

    • Audio (US)

      (file)

Verb

copulate (third-person singular simple present copulates, present participle copulating, simple past and past participle copulated)

1. (somewhat formal) To engage in sexual intercourse.

   The amorous couple were found copulating inside the car.

Synonyms

• fuck, have sex, make love, screw, swive, bang, sleep together, boff
• See also Thesaurus:copulate

Related terms

• copulin
• copulation
• copulator
• copulatee
• copulable
• copulability

Translations

to engage in sexual intercourse

• Arabic: جَامَعَ (jāmaʕa), ضَاجَعَ (ḍājaʕa), مَارَسَ الْجِنْس (mārasa l-jins)
• Armenian: զուգավորել (hy) (zugavorel)
• Bulgarian: съвокуплявам се (sǎvokupljavam se)
• Catalan: copular (ca)
• Cebuano: iyot (vulgar)
• Coptic: ⲛⲟⲩϩⲃ (nouhb)
• Czech: souložit (cs) impf
• Danish: kopulere
• Esperanto: seksumi (eo), amori (eo)
• Estonian: paarituma
• Finnish: rakastella (fi) (chiefly humans); paritella (fi) (chiefly animals)
• French: coïter (fr)
• Georgian: კოპულირებს (ḳoṗulirebs), წყვილდება (c̣q̇vildeba) (of animals), ჯვარდება (ǯvardeba) (of animals)
• German: kopulieren (de), beischlafen (de), vögeln (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: μίγνυμαι (mígnumai), σύνειμι (súneimi)

• Hindi: मैथुन करना (maithun karnā), संभोग करना (sambhog karnā), सेक्स करना (seks karnā), मस्ती करना (mastī karnā)
• Hungarian: közösül (hu), párosodik (hu), párzik (hu), üzekedik (hu), közösül (hu)
• Ido: koitar (io)
• Ilocano: iyot (vulgar)
• Ingrian: koinia (chiefly humans), hässiä (chiefly animals)
• Jarai: tĕ
• Kapampangan: karat (vulgar)
• Karok: kuth, ihravrikûunish
• Kazakh: қосылдыру (qosyldyru)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: perîn (ku), gunhêlî kirin, cot bûn (ku), gan (ku)

• Latin: coeō
• Malay: mengawan
• Maori: ai, mahimahi, onioni, tauonioni, tōkai, hika
• Nauruan: meir
• Nepali: चिक्नु (ciknu)
• Old English: hǣman
• Persian: جفت گرفتن (joft gereftan), مرزیدن (fa) (morzidan)
• Polish: spółkować (pl), kopulować (pl)
• Portuguese: copular (pt)
• Romanian: împerechea (ro)
• Russian: (intransitive) совокупля́ться (ru) impf (sovokupljátʹsja), совокупи́ться (ru) pf (sovokupítʹsja), сноша́ться (ru) impf (snošátʹsja), спа́риваться (ru) impf (spárivatʹsja), спа́риваться (ru) impf (spárivatʹsja), спа́риться (ru) pf (spáritʹsja) (of animals)
• Sanskrit: यभति (sa) (yabhati)
• Scottish Gaelic: (birds) cliath
• Spanish: copular (es)
• Tagalog: kasta (tl), kantot (tl) (vulgar), talik
• Ukrainian: зляга́тися impf (zljahátysja), злягти́ся pf (zljahtýsja)
• Volapük: koitön (vo)

copulate — see mate

copulate — see cover

take part in a sexual act — see have sex

to engage in sexual intercourse — see make love

to have sexual intercourse with someone, something — see mount

to have sexual intercourse with — see bed

Adjective

copulate (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Joined; associated; coupled.
   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Custom and Education”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

     the force of custome copulate, and conioyn'd

2. (grammar) Joining subject and predicate; copulative.
   • 1870, Francis March, A Comparative Grammar of the Anglo-Saxon Language:

     Copulate words may be really a simple subject, 1, a repetition of the same notion, often a climax

Anagrams

• outplace

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

copulate

1. inflection of copulare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

copulate f pl

1. feminine plural of copulato

Anagrams

• peculato

Latin

Verb

cōpulāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of cōpulō

References

• “copulate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• copulate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Spanish

Verb

copulate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of copular combined with te