communicate

[ kuh-myoo-ni-keyt ]

/ kəˈmyu nɪˌkeɪt /

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verb (used with object), com·mu·ni·cat·ed, com·mu·ni·cat·ing.

to impart knowledge of; make known: to communicate information; to communicate one's happiness.

to give to another; impart; transmit: to communicate a disease.

to administer the Eucharist to.

Archaic. to share in or partake of.

verb (used without object), com·mu·ni·cat·ed, com·mu·ni·cat·ing.

to give or interchange thoughts, feelings, information, or the like, by writing, speaking, etc.: They communicate with each other every day.

to express thoughts, feelings, or information easily or effectively.

to be joined or connected: The rooms communicated by means of a hallway.

to partake of the Eucharist.

Obsolete. to take part or participate.

Nearby words

Origin of communicate

1520–30; < Latin commūnicātus, past participle of commūnicāre to impart, make common, equivalent to commūn(is) common + -icāre v. suffix

SYNONYMS FOR communicate

1. divulge, announce, disclose, reveal.

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ANTONYMS FOR communicate

1. withhold, conceal.

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Related forms

non·com·mu·ni·cat·ing, adjectiveo·ver·com·mu·ni·cate, verb, o·ver·com·mu·ni·cat·ed, o·ver·com·mu·ni·cat·ing.pre·com·mu·ni·cate, verb, pre·com·mu·ni·cat·ed, pre·com·mu·ni·cat·ing.un·com·mu·ni·cat·ing, adjective

well-com·mu·ni·cat·ed, adjective

Synonym study

1. Communicate, impart denote giving to a person or thing a part or share of something, now usually something immaterial, as knowledge, thoughts, hopes, qualities, or properties. Communicate, the more common word, implies often an indirect or gradual transmission: to communicate information by means of letters, telegrams, etc.; to communicate one's wishes to someone else. Impart usually implies directness of action: to impart information.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for communicate

Citizens, perhaps, need to feel like they can communicate something to science.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
You will have your beloved father back sooner than you think, and you can visit and communicate with him all the while.
Abramoff’s Advice for Virginia’s New Jailhouse Guv|Tim Mak, Jackie Kucinich|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We also found messengers who could communicate the truth of our lives.
Dear Evangelicals: You’re Being Had|Jay Michaelson|November 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As soon as I was able to communicate, I never said I wanted to be a girl.
Exclusive: Michael Phelps’s Intersex Self-Proclaimed Girlfriend, Taylor Lianne Chandler, Tells All|Aurora Snow|November 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Onion routers refers to the TOR network, a system that allows users to mask their location and communicate anonymously online.
ISIS Keeps Getting Better at Dodging U.S. Spies|Shane Harris, Noah Shachtman|November 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“I have something to communicate to you,” said Mrs. Howland.
The School Queens|L. T. Meade
How much they had to say one to another, how much to communicate one to the other!
The Empress Josephine|Louise Muhlbach
Time must therefore be allowed for the prisoner to communicate with the President and Secretary of State.
The Life Of Thomas Paine, Vol. II. (of II)|Moncure Daniel Conway
I knew this word to be one of the Jewish countersigns, and asked the man if he had anything to communicate?
The Bible in Spain - Vol. 2 [of 2]|George Borrow
The Earl of Salisbury judged it to be the effusion of a lunatic, but thought it well, nevertheless, to communicate it to the king.
What was the Gunpowder Plot?|John Gerard

British Dictionary definitions for communicate

communicate

/ (kəˈmjuːnɪˌkeɪt) /

verb

to impart (knowledge) or exchange (thoughts, feelings, or ideas) by speech, writing, gestures, etc

(tr usually foll by to) to allow (a feeling, emotion, etc) to be sensed (by), willingly or unwillingly; transmit (to)the dog communicated his fear to the other animals

(intr) to have a sympathetic mutual understanding

(intr usually foll by with) to make or have a connecting passage or route; connect

(tr) to transmit (a disease); infect

(intr) Christianity to receive or administer Communion

Derived Formscommunicator, nouncommunicatory, adjective

Word Origin for communicate

C16: from Latin commūnicāre to share, from commūnis common

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for communicate

communicate

1520s, "to impart" (information, etc.), from Latin communicatus, past participle of communicare "impart, inform" (see communication). Meaning "to share, transmit" (diseases, etc.) is from 1530s. Related: Communicated; communicating.