irrigate
[ir-i-geyt]
- 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.
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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
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for irrigate
Contemporary Examples
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 SeriesDaily Beast Promotions
March 2, 2011
Historical Examples
The farmers in Egypt irrigate in the same way as the ryots of India.
The Critic in the OrientGeorge Hamlin Fitch
In this way, step by step, we irrigate all that may be reached by a single gutter.
Village Improvements and Farm VillagesGeorge E. Waring
Each has a cabin in which the rancher lives while they irrigate and make hay.
Letters on an Elk HuntElinore Pruitt Stewart
He expects some time to pipe it down to town and irrigate a tract of land.
The Cruise of a SchoonerAlbert W. Harris
He knew his gift was to irrigate, as he said—to suggest and stimulate.
Ruskin RelicsW. G. Collingwood
irrigate
- 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
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for irrigate
v.
"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.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
irrigate
(ĭr′ĭ-gāt′)- To wash out a cavity or wound with a fluid.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.