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perforate

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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The adjective is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English perforat(e) (perforated, pierced), borrowed from Latin perforātus, the perfect passive participle of perforō (to bore or pierce through, to perforate) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from per- (through, thorough) + forō (to bore, pierce). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈpəːfəreɪt/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Verb

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perforate (third-person singular simple present perforates, present participle perforating, simple past and past participle perforated)

  1. (transitive) To pierce; to penetrate.
  2. (transitive) To make a line of holes in (a thin material) to allow separation at the line.
    to perforate a sheet of postage stamps

Troponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Adjective

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perforate (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete, as a participle) Perforated.
    • 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylua Syluarum:
      An Earthen Pot perforate at the Bottom to let in the Plant.
  2. (obsolete, as a participial adjective) Perforated, having a hole.
    • 1541, Thomas Elyot, Image of Governance:
      Suche abuses can not be longe hydde frome princis, that haue their eares perforate (as is the prouerbe).
  3. (philately, biology) Perforated.
    • 1999, Nguyen Van Dzu, Peter C. Boyce, Kew Bulletin, 54(2):379-393:
      A species of remarkable appearance with mature leaf laminae often so profoundly perforate as to resemble a fragile net of tissue.

Translations

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References

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Italian

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Etymology 1

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Verb

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perforate

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

Etymology 2

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Participle

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perforate f pl

  1. feminine plural of perforato

Anagrams

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Latin

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Verb

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perforāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of perforō

Spanish

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Verb

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perforate

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