perforate
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]Verb
[edit]perforate (third-person singular simple present perforates, present participle perforating, simple past and past participle perforated)
- (transitive) To pierce; to penetrate.
- (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
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]to pierce or penetrate
|
to make a line of holes
Adjective
[edit]perforate (not comparable)
- (obsolete, as a participle) Perforated.
- 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylua Syluarum:
- An Earthen Pot perforate at the Bottom to let in the Plant.
- (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).
- (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
[edit]perforated — see perforated
References
[edit]- Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “perforate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Italian
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Verb
[edit]perforate
- inflection of perforare:
Etymology 2
[edit]Participle
[edit]perforate f pl
Anagrams
[edit]Latin
[edit]Verb
[edit]perforāte
Spanish
[edit]Verb
[edit]perforate
- second-person singular voseo imperative of perforar combined with te
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms suffixed with -ate (verb)
- English terms suffixed with -ate (adjective)
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with quotations
- en:Philately
- en:Biology
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian verb forms
- Italian past participle forms
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin verb forms
- Spanish non-lemma forms
- Spanish verb forms