What does "copulate" mean?

To engage in sexual intercourse.

What is a synonym for "copulate"?

Common synonyms include: couple, mate, accouple, accumulate, agglutinate, allied.

Pronounced //ˈkɔ.pjə.leɪt//.

//ˈkɔ.pjə.leɪt// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Common ·Middle school level

Verb

1
To engage in sexual intercourse. formal
"The amorous couple were found copulating inside the car."
2
engage in sexual intercourse wordnet

Adjective

1
Joined; associated; coupled. not-comparable, obsolete
"the force of custome copulate, and conioyn'd"
2
Joining subject and predicate; copulative. not-comparable
"Copulate words may be really a simple subject, 1, a repetition of the same notion, often a climax"

"Some species will copulate whenever the opportunity presents itself, while others only do so at a specific time of the year."

Etymology 1

From Latin cōpulātus, perfect passive participle of cōpulō (“to couple, join, connect”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare French copuler.

Etymology 2

From Latin cōpulātus, the perfect passive participle of cōpulō (“to couple, join, connect”). See -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.