participate

Etymology

From the participle stem of Latin participare (“to take part in, share in, give part in, impart”), from particeps (“taking part in, sharing in”), from pars (“part”) + capiō (“to take”); see part and capable.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɑːˈtɪsɪpeɪt/

• Audio (US)

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Verb

participate (third-person singular simple present participates, present participle participating, simple past and past participle participated)

1. (intransitive) To join in, to take part, to involve oneself (in something). [from 16th c.]
   • 2015 April 16, Jeré Longman, “At Marathon in North Korea, Curiosity Goes a Long Way”, in The New York Times‎:

     For the second year, foreign amateur runners were allowed to participate in a 10-kilometer race, a half-marathon or a full marathon in Pyongyang, the capital. The races were a part of the April 15 birthday celebration of Kim Il-sung, the former leader of North Korea and father of his successors: Kim Jong-il, a son, and Kim Jong-un, a grandson.

2. (obsolete, transitive) To share, share in (something). [16th-19th c.]
   • 1638, Thomas Herbert, Some Yeares Travels, I:

     they seldome feed together, lest they might participate one anothers impurity: each has his owne cup [...].

3. (obsolete) To share (something) with others; to transfer (something) to or unto others. [16th-18th c.]
   • 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World, II:

     Make the Earth [...] turn round its own axis in twenty four hours, and towards the same point with all the other Spheres; and without participating this same motion to any other Planet or Star.

Adjective

participate (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Acting in common; participating.
   • 1608, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Coriolanus, I. i. 101:

     And, mutually participate, did minister / Unto the appetite and affection common / Of the whole body.

Verb

participāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of participō