conjugate

Etymology

From the participle stem of Latin coniugāre (“to yoke together”), from con- +‎ iugāre.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒndʒəɡeɪt/

Verb

conjugate (third-person singular simple present conjugates, present participle conjugating, simple past and past participle conjugated)

1. (grammar, transitive) To inflect (a verb) for each person, in order, for one or more tenses.

   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. (mathematics) To multiply on the left by one element and on the right by its inverse.
3. (rare) To join together, unite; to juxtapose.
   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 55:

     The effects of hunger were often conjugated with epidemic disease.

4. (biology, of bacteria and algae) To temporarily fuse, exchanging or transferring DNA.

Noun

conjugate (plural conjugates)

1. Any entity formed by joining two or more smaller entities together.
2. (mathematics) (of a complex number) A complex conjugate.
3. (mathematics) More generally, any of a set of irrational or complex numbers that are zeros of the same polynomial with integral coefficients.
4. (mathematics) An explementary angle.
5. (grammar) A word agreeing in derivation with another word, and therefore generally resembling it in meaning.
   • Archbishop Bramhall

     We have learned, in logic, that conjugates are sometimes in name only, and not in deed.

Adjective

conjugate (not comparable)

1. United in pairs; yoked together; coupled.
2. (botany) In single pairs; coupled.
3. (chemistry) Containing two or more radicals supposed to act the part of a single one.
4. (grammar) Agreeing in derivation and radical signification; said of words.
5. (mathematics) Presenting themselves simultaneously and having reciprocal properties; said of quantities, points, lines, axes, curves, etc.