copulate

English

Etymology 1

From Latin cōpulātus, perfect passive participle of cōpulō (“to couple, join, connect”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare French copuler.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒp.jʊ.leɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.pjə.leɪt/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒpjəleɪt, -ɒpjʊleɪt, -ɔpjəleɪt

Verb

copulate (third-person singular simple present copulates, present participle copulating, simple past and past participle copulated)

1. (somewhat formal) To engage in sexual intercourse.

   The amorous couple were found copulating inside the car.

Synonyms

• fuck, have sex, make love, screw, swive, bang, sleep together, boff
• See also Thesaurus:copulate

Derived terms

• copulater
• copulatingly
• pseudocopulate
• recopulate
• retrocopulate

Related terms

• copulability
• copulable
• copulatee
• copulation
• copulator
• copulin

Translations

to engage in sexual intercourse

Arabic: جَامَعَ (jāmaʕa), ضَاجَعَ (ḍājaʕa), مَارَسَ الْجِنْس (mārasa l-jins) Armenian: զուգավորել (hy) (zugavorel) Bulgarian: съвокуплявам се (sǎvokupljavam se) Catalan: copular (ca) Cebuano: iyot (vulgar) Chichewa: kugonana, kupita Coptic: ⲛⲟⲩϩⲃ (nouhb) Czech: souložit (cs) impf Danish: kopulere Esperanto: seksumi (eo), amori (eo) Estonian: paarituma Finnish: rakastella (fi) (chiefly humans); paritella (fi) (chiefly animals) French: coïter (fr) Georgian: კოპულირებს (ḳoṗulirebs), წყვილდება (c̣q̇vildeba) (of animals), ჯვარდება (ǯvardeba) (of animals) German: kopulieren (de), beischlafen (de), vögeln (de) Greek: Ancient: μίγνυμαι (mígnumai), σύνειμι (súneimi) Hawaiian: ai Hindi: मैथुन (hi) m (maithun), संभोग (hi) m (sambhog), सहवास (hi) m (sahvās), चुदाई (hi) f (cudāī) (slang, informal) Hungarian: közösül (hu), párosodik (hu), párzik (hu), üzekedik (hu), közösül (hu) Ido: koitar (io) Ilocano: iyot (vulgar) Ingrian: koinia (chiefly humans), hässiä (chiefly animals) Japanese:性交する(seikō-suru), まぐわう(maguwau, obsolete) Jarai: tĕ Kapampangan: karat (vulgar) Karok: kuth, ihravrikûunish Kazakh: қосылдыру (qosyldyru) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: perîn (ku), gunhêlî kirin, cot bûn (ku), gan (ku) Latin: coeō Malay: berasmara, senggama, jimak (ms), amput Maori: ai, mahimahi, onioni, tauonioni, tōkai, hika Middle English: comunen Nauruan: meir Nepali: चिक्नु (ciknu) Old English: hǣman Persian: جفت گرفتن (joft gereftan), مرزیدن (fa) (morzidan) Polish: spółkować (pl), kopulować (pl) Portuguese: copular (pt) Romanian: împerechea (ro) Russian: (intransitive) совокупля́ться (ru) impf (sovokupljátʹsja), совокупи́ться (ru) pf (sovokupítʹsja), сноша́ться (ru) impf (snošátʹsja), спа́риваться (ru) impf (spárivatʹsja), спа́риваться (ru) impf (spárivatʹsja), спа́риться (ru) pf (spáritʹsja) (of animals) Sanskrit: यभति (sa) (yabhati) Scottish Gaelic: (birds) cliath Spanish: copular (es) Tagalog: kantutin (tl) (vulgar), italik Ukrainian: зляга́тися impf (zljahátysja), злягти́ся pf (zljahtýsja) Volapük: koitön (vo)

copulate — see mate

copulate — see cover

take part in a sexual act — see have sex

to engage in sexual intercourse — see make love

to have sexual intercourse with someone, something — see mount

to have sexual intercourse with — see bed

Etymology 2

From Latin cōpulātus, the perfect passive participle of cōpulō (“to couple, join, connect”). See -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒp.jʊ.lət/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.pjə.lət/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Adjective

copulate (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Joined; associated; coupled.
   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Custom and Education”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

     the force of custome copulate, and conioyn'd

2. (grammar) Joining subject and predicate; copulative.
   • 1870, Francis March, A Comparative Grammar of the Anglo-Saxon Language:

     Copulate words may be really a simple subject, 1, a repetition of the same notion, often a climax

Anagrams

• outplace

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

copulate

1. inflection of copulare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

copulate f pl

1. feminine plural of copulato

Anagrams

• peculato

Latin

Verb

cōpulāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of cōpulō

References

• “copulate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “copulate”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Spanish

Verb

copulate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of copular combined with te