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conjugate

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "conjugate", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "conjugate" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "conjugate" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

conjugate is aEnglishverb. It means: To inflect (a verb) for each person, in order, for one or more tenses; to list or recite its principal parts. Pronounced /ˈkɒn.d͡ʒə.ɡeɪt/. Often confused with consulate and conjugated.

Key facts for conjugate
PropertyValue
Headwordconjugate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈkɒn.d͡ʒə.ɡeɪt/
Letters9
Frequency rank#34,446
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of conjugate in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for conjugate is 9 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɒn.d͡ʒə.ɡeɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #34,446 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for conjugate, with forms such as "cconjugate", "cnojugate", and "cojnugate". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "consulate", "conjugated", "conjugal", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective (as “combined, united”) and noun are first attested in 1471, in Middle English, the verb in 1530; partly from Middle English conjugat(e) (“combined, united”), partly directly borrowed from New Latin coniugātus, the perfect passive participle o… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is conjugate, spelled C-O-N-J-U-G-A-T-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To inflect (a verb) for each person, in order, for one or more tenses; to list or recite its principal parts.
  2. 2
    To multiply on the left by one element and on the right by its inverse.
  3. 3
    To join together, to unite; to juxtapose.
  4. 4
    To temporarily fuse, exchanging or transferring DNA.

Etymology

The adjective (as “combined, united”) and noun are first attested in 1471, in Middle English, the verb in 1530; partly from Middle English conjugat(e) (“combined, united”), partly directly borrowed from New Latin coniugātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin coniugō (“to yoke together, combine; (New Latin) to conjugate, decline, inflect”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from con- (“with”) + iugō (“to join”). In Classical Latin, the word for conjugate (grammar) was dēclīnō, coniugō is a later back-formation from post-classical coniugātiō (“conjugation, declension”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: cconjugate,cnojugate,cojnugate,conjguate,conjjugate,conjuagte,conjugaet,conjugatte,conjuggate,conjugtae,connjugate,conujgate,ocnjugate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for conjugate

Misspelling Variants of "conjugate"

cconjugate10cnojugate9cojnugate9conjguate9conjjugate10conjuagte9conjugaet9conjugatte10
Misspelling Variants of "conjugate"

Frequency rank: #34,446 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "conjugate"?
"conjugate" is spelled C-O-N-J-U-G-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɒn.d͡ʒə.ɡeɪt/.
What does "conjugate" mean?
As a verb, "conjugate" means: To inflect (a verb) for each person, in order, for one or more tenses; to list or recite its principal parts.
What words are commonly confused with "conjugate"?
"conjugate" is commonly confused with "consulate", "conjugated", "conjugal". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "conjugate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "conjugate" is /ˈkɒn.d͡ʒə.ɡeɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "conjugate"?
The adjective (as “combined, united”) and noun are first attested in 1471, in Middle English, the verb in 1530; partly from Middle English conjugat(e) (“combined, united”), partly directly borrowed from New Latin coniugātus, the perfect passive pa... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.