Etymologically
Log in

communicate

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin communicatus, the past participle of commūnicāre (“to share, impart, inform”), literally to make common,[2][3][4] from communis (“common, public”) (see common).[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To share or partake of: 1526 in the OED and MWU;[7][3] to impart information, 1529.[7] Etymonline dates it from the 1520s.[2]

Semantic evolution

To transmit a disease or quality is from the 1530s.[2] In the Church, to receive or administer Holy Communion is 16th-century.[5] The intransitive to share thoughts, exchange information developed later,[2] and of rooms or passages, to have a common opening, is from the 18th century.[5] An adjective communicate, imparted, was used from late Middle English to the early 18th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 1526 – to share.[7][3]
  • 1529 – to impart information.[7]
  • 1530s – to transmit a disease.[2]
  • 18th century – of rooms, to connect.[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To exchange information, ideas or feelings with others.
  2. To make known; to convey.
  3. To pass on a disease or feeling.
  4. Of rooms or spaces, to be connected.
  5. (Christianity) To receive Communion.

Word family

  • communicator
  • communicatee
  • intercommunicate
  • miscommunicate
  • noncommunicating
  • overcommunicate
  • telecommunicate
  • uncommunicating

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press