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Origin and history of conjugate

conjugate(v.)

1520s, in the grammatical sense, "inflect (a verb) through all its various forms," from Latin coniugatus, past participle of coniugare "to yoke together," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + iugare "to join," from iugum "yoke" (from PIE root *yeug- "to join"). "This use has its origin in the fact that in inflected languages, a verb is conjugated by conjoining certain inflectional syllables with the root" [Century Dictionary]. Earlier as an adjective, "joined together" (late 15c.). Related: Conjugated; conjugating.

also from 1520s

Entries linking to conjugate

con-

word-forming element meaning "together, with," sometimes merely intensive; it is the form of com- used in Latin before consonants except -b-, -p-, -l-, -m-, or -r-. In native English formations (such as costar), co- tends to be used where Latin would use con-.

*yeug-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to join."

It might form all or part of: adjoin; adjust; conjoin; conjugal; conjugate; conjugation; conjunct; disjointed; enjoin; injunction; jugular; jostle; joust; join; joinder; joint; jointure; junction; juncture; junta; juxtapose; juxtaposition; rejoin (v.2) "to answer;" rejoinder; subjoin; subjugate; subjugation; subjunctive; syzygy; yoga; yoke; zeugma; zygoma; zygomatic; zygote.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit yugam "yoke," yunjati "binds, harnesses," yogah "union;" Hittite yugan "yoke;" Greek zygon "yoke," zeugnyanai "to join, unite;" Latin iungere "to join," iugum "yoke;" Old Church Slavonic igo, Old Welsh iou "yoke;" Lithuanian jungas "yoke," jungti "to fasten to a yoke;" Old English geoc "yoke."

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    Trends of conjugate

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    bring
    The tendency to conjugate this as a strong verb on the model of sing, drink, etc., is ancient: Old English also had a rare...
    improvise
    I conjugate it after the regular verb to revise — improvise — improvising — improvised....
    coalesce
    1540s, "grow together, unite by growing into one body," from Latin coalescere "unite, grow together, become one in growth," from assimilated form of com- "together" (see co-) + alescere "be nourished," hence, "increase, grow up," inchoative of alere "to suckle, nourish," from PIE
    meld
    "to blend together, merge, unite" (intransitive), by 1910, of uncertain origin. OED suggests "perh. a blend of MELT v.1 and WELD v." Said elsewhere to be a verb use of melled "mingled, blended," past participle of dialectal mell "to mingle, mix, combine, blend." [T]he biplane gr
    change
    c. 1200, "to alter, make different, change" (transitive); early 13c. as "to substitute one for another;" mid-13c. as "to make (something) other than what it was, cause to turn or pass from one state to another;" from late 13c. as "to become different, be altered" (intransitive),
    blend
    c. 1300, blenden, "to mix in such a way as to become inextinguishable, mingle, stir up a liquid," in Middle English chiefly in northern writers, from or akin to rare Old English blandan "to mix" (Mercian blondan) or Old Norse blanda "to mix," or a combination of the two; from Pro
    combine
    early 15c., "to associate, unite, join two or more things together" (transitive), from Old French combiner (14c.) and directly from Late Latin combinare "to unite, yoke together," from Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + bini "two by two," adverb from bi- "twice" (from PIE ro
    merge
    1630s, "to plunge or sink in" (to something), a sense now obsolete, from Latin mergere "to dip, dip in, immerse, plunge," probably rhotacized from *mezgo, from PIE *mezgo- "to dip, to sink, to wash, to plunge" (source also of Sanskrit majjanti "to sink, dive under," Lithuanian ma
    solution
    late 14c., solucioun, "explanation, answer; interpretation of a dream; the dissolving of a substance in a liquid, transformation of matter to a liquid state," from Old French solucion "division, dissolving; explanation; payment" and directly from Latin solutionem (nominative solu
    conflate
    mid-15c., "to mold or cast from molten metal" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin conflatus, past participle of conflare "to blow up, kindle, light; bring together, compose," also "to melt together," literally "to blow together," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see

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