copulate
Americanverb (used without object)
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has copulatedperfect 3rd person singular
-
have copulatedperfect
-
is copulatingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
are copulatingprogressive
-
copulatingparticiple
-
am copulatingprogressive 1st person singular
-
have been copulatingperfect progressive
-
copulatessingular 3rd person
-
has been copulatingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
Past
-
had copulatedperfect
-
had been copulatingperfect progressive
-
was copulatingprogressive singular
-
copulatedparticiple
-
were copulatingprogressive plural
-
copulatedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of copulate
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin cōpulātus bound together. See copula, -ate 1
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.
For example, male peacocks with spectacularly feathered tails get sexually selected more often to copulate with fertile females than do less well-ornamented males.
From Salon • Jun. 19, 2022
Now, they have more information on how adults copulate, when they come back to feed their young, and how often they incubate the chicks.
From Slate • Apr. 29, 2021
“The diseased males will also attempt to copulate with the uninfected females, exposing them to even more spores,” UConn’s research team said in a statement.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2020
About five percent of crows will attempt to copulate with other crows that have joined the choir invisible.
From Scientific American • Jul. 30, 2018
Although when in the light they soon come to rest, divide, and copulate, they remain, in the darkness, in a state of continual unrest and motion.
From A Review of the Systems of Ethics Founded on the Theory of Evolution by Williams, C. M.
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.
