irrigate

[ir-i-geyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR irrigate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), ir·ri·gat·ed, ir·ri·gat·ing.

to supply (land) with water by artificial means, as by diverting streams, flooding, or spraying.

Medicine/Medical. to supply or wash (an orifice, wound, etc.) with a spray or a flow of some liquid.

to moisten; wet.

Origin of irrigate

1605–15; < Latin irrigātus, past participle of irrigāre to wet, flood, nourish with water, equivalent to ir- ir-¹ + rigā- (stem of rigāre to provide with water, soak) + -tus past participle suffix

Related formsir·ri·ga·tor, nounnon·ir·ri·gat·ed, adjectivenon·ir·ri·gat·ing, adjectiveo·ver·ir·ri·gate, verb (used with object), o·ver·ir·ri·gat·ed, o·ver·ir·ri·gat·ing.re·ir·ri·gate, verb (used with object), re·ir·ri·gat·ed, re·ir·ri·gat·ing.un·ir·ri·gat·ed, adjectivewell-ir·ri·gat·ed, adjective

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

Related Words for irrigate

inundate, soak, flood, sprinkle, spray, flush

Examples from the Web for irrigate

Contemporary Examples of irrigate

Treadle water pumps in Africa and Asia allowed women farmers to irrigate small plots and increase their harvests and incomes.
Women | Tools | Technology: A Global Leapfrog, An ExxonMobil-sponsored Series
Daily Beast Promotions
March 2, 2011

Historical Examples of irrigate

The farmers in Egypt irrigate in the same way as the ryots of India.
The Critic in the Orient
George Hamlin Fitch
In this way, step by step, we irrigate all that may be reached by a single gutter.
Village Improvements and Farm Villages
George E. Waring
Each has a cabin in which the rancher lives while they irrigate and make hay.
Letters on an Elk Hunt
Elinore Pruitt Stewart
He expects some time to pipe it down to town and irrigate a tract of land.
The Cruise of a Schooner
Albert W. Harris
He knew his gift was to irrigate, as he said—to suggest and stimulate.
Ruskin Relics
W. G. Collingwood

British Dictionary definitions for irrigate

irrigate

verb

to supply (land) with water by means of artificial canals, ditches, etc, esp to promote the growth of food crops

med to bathe or wash out a bodily part, cavity, or wound

(tr) to make fertile, fresh, or vital by or as if by watering

Derived Formsirrigable, adjectiveirrigation, nounirrigational or irrigative, adjectiveirrigator, noun

Word Origin for irrigate

C17: from Latin irrigāre, from rigāre to moisten, conduct water

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 irrigate

"supply land with water," 1610s, from Latin irrigatus, past participle of irrigare "lead water to, refresh, irrigate, flood," from assimilated form of in- "into, in, on, upon" (see in- (2)) + rigare "to water, to moisten," of uncertain origin, perhaps cognate with rain. Related: Irrigated; irrigating. In Middle English it was an adjective, "watered, flooded" (mid-15c.).

irrigate in Medicine

irrigate

[ĭr′ĭ-gāt′]

v.

To wash out a cavity or wound with a fluid.