agglutinate
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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to unite or cause to adhere, as with glue.
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Immunology. to clump or cause to clump, as bacteria or blood platelets.
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Linguistics. to form by agglutination.
adjective
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united by or as by glue.
verb
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to adhere or cause to adhere, as with glue
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linguistics to combine or be combined by agglutination
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(tr) to cause (bacteria, red blood cells, etc) to clump together
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of agglutinate
1535–45; < Latin agglūtinātus (past participle of agglūtināre ), equivalent to ag- ag- + glūtin- (stem of glūten glue) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
When things get stuck or clumped together, they agglutinate. In biology, red blood cells are said to agglutinate when they adhere to each other, forming a mass of cells. There's glue at the heart of agglutinate — it comes from the Latin agglutinare, "fasten with glue." Microbiologists use this word to describe the behavior of cells and particles. Linguistics experts also use this verb: when words or sounds agglutinate, they are strung together to form more complex compound words. In English, one example is shamelessness, which agglutinates shame, less, and ness.
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.
But I understand how frightening those ideas are to others whose worldviews have been warped and terrified by Guy Fieri's "Mondo Pita-Partied Hemorhhagic Meated Wads with Volcano Adobo Mayo and You-Don't-Know-Chedder-Jack™ Agglutinate".
From The Guardian • Jul. 3, 2014
Agglutinate: stuck or glued together; welded into one mass.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.
Agglutinate, ag-glōōt′in-āt, v.t. to cause to adhere by glue or cement.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
Agglutinate languages, languages composed of parts which are words glued together, so to speak, as cowherd.
From The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by Nuttall, P. Austin
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.
