What does "conjugate" mean?
Any entity formed by joining two or more smaller entities together.
Conjugate
/ˈkɒn.d͡ʒə.ɡeɪt/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any entity formed by joining two or more smaller entities together.
- Grammar: conjugate is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: accouple, accumulate, acrostic, affiliate.
- Useful contrasts: deinflect, disjoint, independent.
- Usage evidence: My classmates are pathetic. They have studied for four years and yet they can't conjugate verbs! The only student who can speak well is not in the class anymore.
How to use "conjugate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "conjugate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "conjugate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "conjugate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "conjugate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "conjugate" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "accouple" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "conjugate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any entity formed by joining two or more smaller entities together.
- 2 a mixture of two partially miscible liquids A and B produces two conjugate solutions: one of A in B and another of B in A wordnet
- 3 A complex conjugate.
- 4 More generally, any of a set of irrational or complex numbers that are zeros of the same polynomial with integral coefficients.
- 5 Given a field extension L / K and an element α ∈ L, any other element β ∈ L that is another root of the minimal polynomial of α over K.
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 A type of pelvic measurement.
- 7 An explementary angle.
- 8 A word agreeing in derivation with another word, and therefore generally resembling it in meaning.
"17th c, John Bramhall, We have learned in logic, that conjugates are sometimes in name only, and not in deed."
- 9 A weak and a strong antigen covalently linked together
Verb
- 1 To inflect (a verb) for each person, in order, for one or more tenses; to list or recite its principal parts. transitive
"In English, the verb 'to be' is conjugated as follows: 'I am', 'you are', 'he/she/it is', 'we are', 'you are', 'they are'."
- 2 unite chemically so that the product is easily broken down into the original compounds wordnet
- 3 To multiply on the left by one element and on the right by its inverse.
- 4 undergo conjugation wordnet
- 5 To join together, to unite; to juxtapose. rare
"The effects of hunger were often conjugated with epidemic disease."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 add inflections showing person, number, gender, tense, aspect, etc. wordnet
- 7 To temporarily fuse, exchanging or transferring DNA.
Adjective
- 1 United in pairs; yoked together; coupled. not-comparable
"Some of the most widely-applied Gresley features will doubtless long remain a subject of controversy among locomotive engineers, and in particular his patent conjugate valve-motion for 3-cylinder engines, whereby the piston-valve of the middle cylinder derives its motion from the two outside Walschaerts valve-gears."
- 2 In single pairs; coupled. not-comparable
- 3 Containing two or more radicals supposed to act the part of a single one. not-comparable
- 4 Agreeing in derivation and radical signification; said of words. not-comparable
- 5 Presenting themselves simultaneously and having reciprocal properties; said of quantities, points, lines, axes, curves, etc. not-comparable
Adjective
- 1 of an organic compound; containing two or more double bonds each separated from the other by a single bond wordnet
- 2 formed by the union of two compounds wordnet
- 3 (of a pinnate leaflet) having only one pair of leaflets wordnet
- 4 joined together especially in a pair or pairs wordnet
Example
"My classmates are pathetic. They have studied for four years and yet they can't conjugate verbs! The only student who can speak well is not in the class anymore."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "conjugate"?
Common synonyms include: accouple, accumulate, acrostic, affiliate, affiliated, agglutinate.
How do you use "conjugate" in a sentence?
My classmates are pathetic. They have studied for four years and yet they can't conjugate verbs! The only student who can speak well is not in the class anymore.
How do you pronounce "conjugate"?
Pronounced /ˈkɒn.d͡ʒə.ɡeɪt/.
Etymology
The adjective (as “combined, united”) and noun are first attested in 1471, in Middle English, the verb in 1530; partly from Middle English conjugat(e) (“combined, united”), partly directly borrowed from New Latin coniugātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin coniugō (“to yoke together, combine; (New Latin) to conjugate, decline, inflect”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from con- (“with”) + iugō (“to join”). In Classical Latin, the word for conjugate (grammar) was dēclīnō, coniugō is a later back-formation from post-classical coniugātiō (“conjugation, declension”).