dilate

See also: dilaté

English

Etymology

From Middle French dilater, from Latin dīlātō (“I spread out”), from di-, variant of dis- + latus (“wide”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /daɪˈleɪt/
• Rhymes: -eɪt

Verb

dilate (third-person singular simple present dilates, present participle dilating, simple past and past participle dilated)

1. (transitive) To enlarge; to make bigger.

   The eye doctor put drops in my eye to dilate the pupil so he could see the nerve better.

2. (intransitive) To become wider or larger; to expand.
   • Addison

     His heart dilates and glories in his strength.

3. (transitive, intransitive) To speak largely and copiously; to dwell in narration; to enlarge; with "on" or "upon".
   • Shakespeare

     Do me the favour to dilate at full / What hath befallen of them and thee till now.

   • Crabbe

     But still on their ancient joys dilate.

Translations

To enlarge; to make bigger

• Bulgarian: разширявам (bg) (razširjavam), разтварям (bg) (raztvarjam)
• Dutch: dilatatie (nl)
• Finnish: laajentaa (fi)
• French: dilater (fr)

• Ido: dilatar (io)
• Polish: rozszerzać (pl)
• Portuguese: dilatar (pt)
• Spanish: dilatar (es)

To become wider or larger; to expand

• Bulgarian: разширявам се (razširjavam se), разпростирам се (razprostiram se)
• Dutch: uitzetten (nl) pl
• Finnish: laajentua (fi), laajeta (fi)

• French: se dilater (fr)
• Portuguese: expandir (pt)
• Spanish: dilatarse (es)

Derived terms

• dilatability
• dilatable
• dilation
• dilative

See also

• dilute

Anagrams

• detail, tailed

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French

Verb

dilate

1. first-person singular present indicative of dilater
2. third-person singular present indicative of dilater
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of dilater
4. first-person singular present subjunctive of dilater
5. second-person singular imperative of dilater

Anagrams

• déliât, détail, ladite

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Latin

Participle

dīlāte

1. vocative masculine singular of dīlātus

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Portuguese

Verb

dilate

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of dilatar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of dilatar
3. first-person singular imperative of dilatar
4. third-person singular imperative of dilatar

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Spanish

Verb

dilate

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of dilatar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of dilatar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of dilatar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of dilatar.