copulation

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French copulation, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin copulo (“I join, unite, connect”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɒp.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

copulation (countable and uncountable, plural copulations)

1. (countable) The act of coupling or joining; union; conjunction.
2. (uncountable) Sexual procreation between a man and a woman or transfer of the sperm from male to female; usually applied to the mating process in nonhuman animals; coitus; coition.
   • ca.1909, Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth, Letter VIII:

     Solomon, who was one of the Deity's favorities, had a copulation cabinet composed of seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.

   • 1979, J.G. Ballard, The Unlimited Dream Company, chapter 30:

     In the dusky streets around me ruled an innocent and open copulation. The entire town mated together, in the leafy bowers that had sprung up among the washing-machines and television sets in the shopping mall, on the settees and divans by the furniture store, in the tropical paradises of the suburban gardens.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:copulation

Translations

the act of joining

• Bulgarian: свързване (bg) n (svǎrzvane)
• Finnish: liittäminen (fi), liittyminen (fi), yhdistäminen (fi), yhdistyminen (fi), yhtyminen (fi), koplaus
• Georgian: შეერთება (šeerteba), გაერთიანება (gaertianeba)
• German: Verbindung (de) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Malay: kopulasi
• Romanian: unire (ro) f, împerechere (ro) f
• Russian: соедине́ние (ru) n (sojedinénije)

copulation — see sexual intercourse

the coming together of male and female in sexual intercourse

• Arabic: مُضَاجَعَة f (muḍājaʕa)
• Bulgarian: съвкупление n (sǎvkuplenie)
• Dutch: copulatie (nl) f
• Estonian: paaritumine, kopulatsioon
• Finnish: parittelu (fi)
• Georgian: სქესობრივი აქტი (skesobrivi akṭi), კოპულაცია (ḳoṗulacia), კოიტუსი (ḳoiṭusi), შეწყვილება (šec̣q̇vileba) (for animals)
• German: Koitus (de) m, Kopulation (de) f, Beischlaf (de) m, Akt (de) m, Begattung (de) f, Paarung f, Kohabitation (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: συνουσία f (sunousía), μίξις f (míxis)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lithuanian: dauginimasis m
• Malay: kopulasi
• Romanian: copulație (ro) f, împerechere (ro)
• Russian: сноше́ние (ru) n (snošénije), совокупле́ние (ru) n (sovokuplénije), копуля́ция (ru) f (kopuljácija), ко́итус (ru) m (kóitus)
• Slovak: kopulácia, párenie
• Spanish: coito (es) m, copulación f
• Tagalog: pagtatalik
• Telugu: రతి (te) (rati)
• Volapük: koit (vo)