conjugate

American  

[kon-juh-geyt, kon-juh-git, -geyt] / ˈkɒn dʒəˌgeɪt, ˈkɒn dʒə gɪt, -ˌgeɪt /

verb (used with object)

conjugates, present (3rd person singular) conjugated, past participle, past conjugating present participle

1. Grammar.

   1. to inflect (a verb).

   2. to recite or display all or some subsets of the inflected forms of (a verb), in a fixed order.

      One conjugates the present tense of the verb “be” as “I am, you are, he is, we are, you are, they are.”

2. to join together, especially in marriage.

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verb (used without object)

conjugates, present (3rd person singular) conjugated, past participle, past conjugating present participle

1. Biology. to unite; to undergo conjugation.

2. Grammar. to be characterized by conjugation.

   The Latin verb esse does not conjugate in the passive voice.

adjective

1. joined together, especially in a pair or pairs; coupled.

2. Botany. (of a pinnate leaf ) having only one pair of leaflets.

3. Grammar. (of words) having a common derivation.

4. Bibliography. (of two leaves in a book) forming one sheet.

5. Mathematics.

   1. (of two points, lines, etc.) so related as to be interchangeable in the enunciation of certain properties.

   2. (of an element) so related to a second element of a group that there exists a third element of the group that, multiplying one element on the right and the other element on the left, results in equal elements.

   3. (of two complex numbers) differing only in the sign of the imaginary part.

6. Chemistry.

   1. of or noting two or more liquids in equilibrium with one another.

   2. (of an acid and a base) related by the loss or gain of a proton.

      NH3 is a base conjugate to NH4+.

      NH4+ is an acid conjugate to NH3.

   3. Also conjugated. (of an organic compound) containing two or more double bonds each separated from the other by a single bond.

noun

1. one of a group of conjugate words.

2. Mathematics.

   1. either of two conjugate points, lines, etc.

   2. Also called conjugate complex number.  Also called complex conjugate,.  either of a pair of complex numbers of the type a + bi and a − bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is imaginary.

conjugate British  

verb

1. (tr) grammar to inflect (a verb) systematically; state or set out the conjugation of (a verb)

2. (intr) (of a verb) to undergo inflection according to a specific set of rules

3. (tr) to join (two or more substances) together, esp in such a way that the resulting substance may easily be turned back into its original components

4. (intr) biology to undergo conjugation

5. obsolete (tr) to join together, esp in marriage

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adjective

1. joined together in pairs; coupled

2. (Maths)

   1. (of two angles) having a sum of 360°

   2. (of two complex numbers) differing only in the sign of the imaginary part as 4 + 3i and 4 – 3i

   3. (of two algebraic numbers) being roots of the same irreducible algebraic equation with rational coefficients

      3 ± 2 √2 are conjugate algebraic numbers, being roots of x² – 6x + 1

   4. (of two elements of a square matrix) interchanged when the rows and columns are interchanged

   5. (of two arcs) forming a complete circle or other closed curved figure

3. chem of, denoting, or concerning the state of equilibrium in which two liquids can exist as two separate phases that are both solutions. The liquid that is the solute in one phase is the solvent in the other

4. another word for conjugated

5. chem (of acids and bases) related by loss or gain of a proton

   Cl–is the conjugate base of HCl

   HCl is the conjugate acid of Cl–

6. physics

   1. joined by a reciprocal relationship, such as in the case of two quantities, points, etc, that are interchangeable with respect to the properties of each of them

   2. (of points connected with a lens) having the property that an object placed at one point will produce an image at the other point

7. (of a compound leaf) having one pair of leaflets

8. (of words) cognate; related in origin

noun

1. one of a pair or set of conjugate substances, values, quantities, words, etc

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• conjugateness
  noun
• conjugator
  noun
• misconjugate
  verb
• conjugable
  adjective
• conjugative
  adjective
• nonconjugate
  adjective
• unconjugated
  adjective
• conjugably
  adverb
• conjugately
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• conjugating
  present
• conjugated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• conjugate
  simple
• conjugates
  simple
• have conjugated
  perfect
• has conjugated
  perfect
• am conjugating
  progressive
• are conjugating
  progressive
• is conjugating
  progressive
• have been conjugating
  perfect progressive
• has been conjugating
  perfect progressive

Past

• conjugated
  simple
• had conjugated
  perfect
• was conjugating
  progressive
• were conjugating
  progressive
• had been conjugating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will conjugate
  simple
• will have conjugated
  perfect
• will be conjugating
  progressive
• will have been conjugating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of conjugate

1425–75; late Middle English (adj.) < Latin conjugātus (past participle of conjugāre to yoke together), equivalent to con- con- + jug ( um ) yoke ¹ + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

Conjugate is what you do to a word to make it agree with other words in a sentence. If you’ve studied a foreign language, you know that sometimes you can conjugate a verb just by changing its endings. To conjugate the verb to be, you’d say “I am,” “you are,” “she is,” and so on. You’re changing the form of the verb to make it agree with the subject. You might conjugate other words to make them agree in number, gender, or tense. In chemistry, conjugate means "to join together." It can also be an adjective, meaning "joined," or "joined in pairs," like the conjugate leaf of an Oak tree.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conjugate conjugates conjugated conjugating

The acquisition expands Gilead’s antibody-drug conjugate capabilities, including Tubulis’ lead asset, TUB-040.

From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026

They provided $70 million in Series A financing to launch Lifordi and advance the VISTA-targeted antibody-drug conjugate candidate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025

Through the acquisition, Novartis is also gaining access to a new class of RNA therapeutics, called antibody oligonucleotide conjugate, with a platform that enables delivering RNA therapy to muscle, UBS says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2025

Bit by bit, the antibody-drug conjugate therefore recognizes and destroys all cells of the diseased blood system.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2024

He’s my literature and linguistics teacher, and he’s currently trying to teach me how to conjugate basic Kushoto verbs.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

The Swiss pharmaceutical company said it would purchase the privately held U.K.-based biotechnology firm, which is developing a new class of antibody-drug conjugates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

The antibody-drug conjugates deliver chemotherapy directly to tumor cells, reducing disease progression risk by around 40% vs. chemo.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

Sac-TMT is just one of the antibody-drug conjugates Merck is developing in collaboration with Kelun-Biotech.

From Barron's ● May 22, 2026

The deal will expand Gilead’s capabilities in antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, which deliver powerful chemotherapies to cancerous cells without harming nearby cells.

From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026

But instead I watch as she conjugates verbs.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

When they removed a protein called BAAT, which produces conjugated bile acids, the tumor load in mice dropped significantly.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2025

Such conjugated vaccines are known to induce a stronger T cell immune response, generally leading to better and longer lasting protection.

From Science Magazine ● Feb. 27, 2024

It wasn't set up to be conjugated that way.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2022

Maybe that’s because in Chinese, my first language, verbs aren’t conjugated.

From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2022

Science experiments were performed, Latin verbs conjugated, multiplication tables recited, and spelling bees held.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

A particularly surprising finding was that some of the strongest effectors for targeted protein degradation were E2 conjugating enzymes, instead of E3s.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2024

Worse, I get 47% one day, due to my apparent inability to follow simple instructions conjugating the imperfect.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 1, 2019

Their schedules may also include language courses, where conjugating verbs and learning proper syntax, for example, can’t be considered an ideological task.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2018

Those mind-numbing exercises in high school—factoring polynomials, conjugating verbs, memorizing the periodic table—were possibly the opposite: mind-sensitizing.

From The New Yorker ● Mar. 27, 2017

Twenty minutes into French class, Madame O’Malley was conjugating the verb to believe in the subjunctive.

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green