English
communicate
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/
Verb

communicate (communicates, present participle communicating; past and past participle communicated)

  1. To impart
    1. (transitive) To impart or transmit (information or knowledge) to someone; to make known, to tell. [from 16th c.]
      It is vital that I communicate this information to you.
    2. (transitive) To impart or transmit (an intangible quantity, substance); to give a share of. [from 16th c.]
      to communicate motion by means of a crank
      • Where God is worshipped, there he communicates his blessings and holy influences.
    3. (transitive) To pass on (a disease) to another person, animal etc. [from 17th c.]
      The disease was mainly communicated via rats and other vermin.
  2. To share
    1. (transitive, obsolete) To share (in); to have in common, to partake of. [16th-19th c.]
      We shall now consider those functions of intelligence which man communicates with the higher beasts.
      • 1603, Ben Jonson, Sejanus His Fall
        thousands that communicate our loss
    2. (intransitive, Christianity) To receive the bread and wine at a celebration of the Eucharist; to take part in Holy Communion. [from 16th c.]
      • 1971, Keith Thomas (historian), Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, p. 148:
        The ‘better sort’ might communicate on a separate day; and in some parishes even the quality of the communion wine varied with the social quality of the recipients.
    3. (transitive, Christianity) To administer the Holy Communion to (someone). [from 16th c.]
      • She [the church] […] may communicate him.
    4. (intransitive) To express or convey ideas, either through verbal or nonverbal means; to have intercourse, to exchange information. [from 16th c.]
      Many deaf people communicate with sign language.
      I feel I hardly know him; I just wish he'd communicate with me a little more.
    5. (intransitive) To be connected with (another room, vessel etc.) by means of an opening or channel. [from 16th c.]
      The living room communicates with the back garden by these French windows.
Related terms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • French: communier
  • German: die Kommunion empfangen (receive), an der Kommunion teilnehmen (take part)
  • Italian: comunicare
  • Portuguese: comungar
  • Russian: причаща́ться
  • Spanish: comulgar
Translations Translations
  • German: in Verbindung stehen, verbunden sein


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