articulate
verbadjectivenounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ɑː(ɹ)ˈtɪk.jʊ.leɪt//
- United Kingdom//ɑː(ɹ)ˈtɪk.jʊ.lət//
- United States//ɑːɹˈtɪk.jə.leɪt//
- United States//ɑːɹˈtɪk.jə.lət//
To make clear or effective.
verb
- 1
To make clear or effective.
- 2
To speak clearly; to enunciate.
I wish he’d articulate his words more clearly.
- 3
To explain; to put into words; to make something specific.
I like this painting, but I can’t articulate why.
It’s not just that Trump’s voters are articulating the same ideas. They’re framing issues in the same way, pointing to the same boogeymen and even using the same words.
- 4
To bend or hinge something at intervals, or to allow or build something so that it can bend.
an articulated bus
- 5
To attack a note, as by tonguing, slurring, bowing, etc.
Articulate that passage heavily.
- 6
To form a joint or connect by joints.
The lower jaw articulates with the skull at the temporomandibular joint.
- 7
obsoleteTo treat or make terms.
Send us to Rome / The best, with whom we may articulate / For their own good and ours.
Etymology
The adjective is first attested in 1531, the verb in 1551; borrowed from Latin articulātus (“distinct, articulated, jointed”), perfect passive participle of articulō, see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
adjective
- 1
Clear; effective.
- 2
Speaking in a clear and effective manner; having both good articulation and good elocution.
She’s a bright, articulate young woman.
- 3
Consisting of segments united by joints.
jointed articulate animals
The robot arm was articulate in two directions.
- 4
Distinctly marked off.
an articulate period in history
- 5
obsoleteExpressed in articles or in separate items or particulars.
articulate sounds
- 6
obsoleteRelated to human speech, as distinct from the vocalisation of animals.
Brutes cannot form articulate Sounds, cannot articulate the Sounds of the Voice, excepting some few Birds, as the Parrot, Pye, &c.
- 7
obsoleteArticulated (all senses).
noun
- 1
An animal of the subkingdom Articulata.
They considered articulates to be pre-adapted for an eleutherozoic existence because they possess muscular arms which are potentially of value in crawling and swimming, as in comatulids.
Forms
- plural
- articulates
- comparative
- more articulate
- superlative
- most articulate
- past tense
- articulated
- past participle
- articulated
- present participle
- articulating
- third person singular
- articulates