copula
Americannoun
PLURAL
copulas, copulae-
something that connects or links together.
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Also called linking verb. Grammar. a verb, as be, seem, or look, that serves as a connecting link or establishes an identity between subject and complement.
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Logic. a word or set of words that acts as a connecting link between the subject and predicate of a proposition.
noun
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a verb, such as be, seem, or taste, that is used merely to identify or link the subject with the complement of a sentence. Copulas may serve to link nouns (or pronouns), as in he became king, nouns (or pronouns) and adjectival complements, as in sugar tastes sweet, or nouns (or pronouns) and adverbial complements, as in John is in jail
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anything that serves as a link
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logic the often unexpressed link between the subject and predicate terms of a categorial proposition, as are in all men are mortal
Other Word Forms
- copular adjective
Etymology
Origin of copula
1640–50; < Latin cōpula, equivalent to co- co- + ap- fasten ( apt ) + -ula -ule
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Lady arachnids have a well-deserved reputation for polishing off their suitors, post copula, in a manner that Hannibal Lecter might have admired.
From Economist
We may, indeed, say, ½a friendship has long existed between them,¸ instead of saying, ½there has long been a friendship between them;¸ but in this case, exist is not a mere copula.
From Project Gutenberg
We say ‘murder is death to the perpetrator’ where the copula is brings; ‘two and two are four,’ the copula being ‘have the value of,’ etc.”
From Project Gutenberg
These propositions, as will be seen, are not cast in what the logician calls logical form, with regular terms and copula.
From Project Gutenberg
By means of this representation, and the peculiar nature of the attribute, the verb is distinguished from the mere logical copula, with which it is liable to be confounded if these ideas are not understood.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
