copulation

[kop-yuh-ley-shuh n]

See more synonyms for copulation on Thesaurus.com

noun

sexual intercourse.
a joining together or coupling.

Origin of copulation

1350–1400; Middle English copulacion < Latin cōpulātiōn- (stem of copulātio) a binding together. See copulate, -ion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for copulation

intercourse, procreation, coupling, fornication, lovemaking, intimacy, sex, relations, mating, nooky, coition

Examples from the Web for copulation

Historical Examples of copulation

We readily conceive how they appear when left in the female by copulation.
New observations on the natural history of bees
Francis Huber
Copulation is accomplished without the hive, and in the air.
New observations on the natural history of bees
Francis Huber
Calling a natural process like copulation a sin doesn't make it so.
Painted Veils
James Huneker
Copulation of the mother bee, in l'Apiculteur, 6e anne, 1862.
The Natural Philosophy of Love
Remy de Gourmont
No copulation; exterior fecundation of eggs: fish, echinoderms.
The Natural Philosophy of Love
Remy de Gourmont

Word Origin and History for copulation

late 14c., "coupling," from Middle French copulation "mating, copulation" (14c.), from Latin copulationem (nominative copulatio), noun of action from past participle stem of copulare (see copulate). Of the sex act from late 15c., and this became the main sense from 16c.

copulation in Medicine

copulation

[kŏp′yə-lā′shən]

Conjugation between two cells that do not fuse but separate after mutual fertilization.
coitus

Related formscop′u•late′ v.