incorporate
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to form into a legal corporation.
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to put or introduce into a body or mass as an integral part or parts.
to incorporate revisions into a text.
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to take in or include as a part or parts, as the body or a mass does.
His book incorporates his earlier essay.
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to form or combine into one body or uniform substance, as ingredients.
- Synonyms:
- personify, amalgamate, mix, blend, assimilate, absorb
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His book incorporates all his thinking on the subject.
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to form into a society or organization.
verb (used without object)
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to form a legal corporation.
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to unite or combine so as to form one body.
adjective
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legally incorporated, as a company.
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combined into one body, mass, or substance.
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Archaic. embodied.
adjective
verb
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to include or be included as a part or member of a united whole
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to form or cause to form a united whole or mass; merge or blend
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to form (individuals, an unincorporated enterprise, etc) into a corporation or other organization with a separate legal identity from that of its owners or members
adjective
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combined into a whole; incorporated
-
formed into or constituted as a corporation
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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incorporatesimple
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incorporatessimple
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have incorporatedperfect
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has incorporatedperfect
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am incorporatingprogressive
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are incorporatingprogressive
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is incorporatingprogressive
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have been incorporatingperfect progressive
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has been incorporatingperfect progressive
Past
-
incorporatedsimple
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had incorporatedperfect
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was incorporatingprogressive
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were incorporatingprogressive
-
had been incorporatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of incorporate1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin incorporātus, past participle of incorporāre “to embody, incarnate”; see in- 2, corporate
Origin of incorporate2
First recorded in 1525–35; from Late Latin incorporātus “not embodied”; see in- 3, corporate
Explanation
To incorporate is to include or integrate a part into the whole. Incorporate is a more active version of the word "include"; if you incorporate, you are adding something to the mix. In the business world, to incorporate is a legal process. In other usages, the word incorporate really just means to include something or work something into whatever was already existing. You could incorporate your new roommate's furniture into the decor of your apartment, but you may not find a way to incorporate her cat's litter box.
Vocabulary lists containing incorporate
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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List 4
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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.
See Examples For:
People who depend on fixed-rate pensions or flat-rate annuities are the most adversely affected, because those do not incorporate inflation into their payments.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
“Next-generation devices increasingly incorporate new architectures and performance-enhancing layers. As a materials-discovery company, we are well positioned to benefit from these technology transitions,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
“Recipients must incorporate reproductive goals counseling as a core component of program implementation,” the new guidelines read.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
The building's developers have found other ways to incorporate the building's past into its new life.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
“This is not a pure karate class, Ms. Brennan—we incorporate several martial arts. But we do use a little Japanese, so if you don't understand something, always feel free to ask.”
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
It incorporates Nutri-Score data in its product assessments.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Running roughly 35 minutes and divided into eight movements, mostly without pauses between them, “Lincoln” incorporates texts from several sources written and sometimes spoken by our 16th president.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
This $20.6-billion spending plan that was approved Tuesday incorporates the layoffs of up to several hundred workers with due-process rights and perhaps 1,000 more without job protections.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
With regard to “quality,” the evidence suggests profitability incorporates any information about expected returns that may be captured by a long list of quality metrics, including convoluted “roll-ups” of many separate measures of firm strength.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
The chaffinch listens to other chaffinches, and incorporates into his memory snatches of their songs.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
The clause survives as decoration: incorporated, venerated, and incapable of stopping a single seizure.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
By Ma Rainey’s own testimony, she’d picked up on and incorporated into her compositions blues lines she’d heard used by wandering folk musicians.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
A coat of arms, designed by her two children, was incorporated in the memorial unveiled a year later.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
The field first emerged in the 1990s and gained credibility as the UN's climate panel incorporated the work into its assessments.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
They incorporated Western dyes into their weaving, became silversmiths and ranchers, and now drive trucks while continuing to live in traditional dwellings.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
After "incorporating the suggestions of my cabinet colleagues", a draft legislation would be given "its final shape", he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Dr. McCormack said it is essential to create a clear process for incorporating ice sheet model projections into policies addressing sea level rise.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
German soldiers specialized in incorporating jagged chunks of shrapnel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Pixar affirms this by incorporating a Totoro cameo into “Toy Story 3.”
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
The pact did not succeed, however, in incorporating Fernanda into the family.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
