articulate

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin articulātus (“distinct, articulated, jointed”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ärtĭ'kyələt, IPA^(key): /ɑː(ɹ)ˈtɪk.jʊ.lət/
• (US) enPR: ärtĭ'kyələt, IPA^(key): /ɑːɹˈtɪk.jə.lət/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪkjʊlɪt
• Rhymes: -ɪkjʊleɪt

Adjective

articulate (comparative more articulate, superlative most articulate)

1. Clear; effective.
2. Speaking in a clear and effective manner.

   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. (obsolete) Expressed in articles or in separate items or particulars.
   • 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “II. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

     articulate sounds

6. (obsolete, of sound) Related to human speech, as distinct from the vocalisation of animals.
   • 1728, James Knapton, John Knapton, Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, page 146:

     Brutes cannot form articulate Sounds, cannot articulate the Sounds of the Voice, excepting some few Birds, as the Parrot, Pye, &c.

Synonyms

• (good at speaking): eloquent, well-spoken

Derived terms

• articulately
• articulateness
• biarticulate
• exarticulate
• hyperarticulate
• inarticulate
• interarticulate
• multarticulate
• multiarticulate
• octarticulate
• pluriarticulate
• prearticulate
• quadriarticulate
• semiarticulate
• sexarticulate
• subarticulate
• triarticulate
• unarticulate
• uniarticulate

 

Translations

clear, effective

• Bulgarian: ясен (bg) (jasen), отчетлив (bg) (otčetliv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 清晰的, 有效的

• Dutch: duidelijk (nl), klaar (nl), efficiënt (nl)
• Finnish: selkeä (fi)
• French: clair (fr)
• German: klar (de), effektiv (de)
• Greek: ευκρινής (el) (efkrinís)
• Hungarian: érthető (hu), világos (hu)
• Italian: chiaro (it)
• Portuguese: articulado (pt)
• Punjabi: ਸਾਫ਼ (pa) (sāf), ਸਪੱਸ਼ਟ (sapaśśaṭ)
• Spanish: claro (es)

speaking in a clear or effective manner

• Armenian: հոդաբաշխ (hy) (hodabašx)
• Bulgarian: членоразделен (bg) (členorazdelen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 能说会道的, 口齿伶俐的

• Dutch: welbespraakt (nl), taalvaardig (nl)
• Esperanto: elokventa
• Finnish: selväpuheinen
• French: éloquent (fr)
• German: redegewandt (de), sprachlich gewandt
• Greek: εύγλωττος (el) (évglottos)
• Hungarian: artikulált (hu)
• Italian: eloquente (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: ēloquens (la)
• Maori: pūkōrero, wahapū, korokoro tūī
• Portuguese: articulado (pt)
• Romanian: elocvent (ro)
• Russian: вырази́тельный (ru) (vyrazítelʹnyj), членоразде́льный (ru) (členorazdélʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: siùbhlach, pongail
• Spanish: elocuente (es)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can

able to bend or hinge at certain points or intervals

• Bulgarian: ставен (bg) (staven), шарнирен (šarniren)
• Catalan: articulat (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 有关节的

• Dutch: geleed (nl), gelede (nl), geärticuleerd
• Finnish: nivelletty, nivel-
• French: articulé (fr)
• Greek: αρθρωτός (el) (arthrotós)
• Portuguese: articulado (pt), articulável
• Spanish: articulado (es)

Noun

articulate (plural articulates)

1. (zoology) An animal of the subkingdom Articulata.
   • 1977, Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History):

     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.

Etymology 2

From the adjective.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ärtĭ'kyəlāt, IPA^(key): /ɑː(ɹ)ˈtɪk.jʊ.leɪt/
• (US) enPR: ärtĭ'kyəlāt, IPA^(key): /ɑːɹˈtɪk.jə.leɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Verb

articulate (third-person singular simple present articulates, present participle articulating, simple past and past participle articulated)

1. (transitive) To make clear or effective.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To speak clearly; to enunciate.

   I wish he’d articulate his words more clearly.

3. (transitive) To explain; to put into words; to make something specific.

   I like this painting, but I can’t articulate why.

4. (transitive) To bend or hinge something at intervals, or to allow or build something so that it can bend.

   an articulated bus

5. (music, transitive) to attack a note, as by tonguing, slurring, bowing, etc.

   Articulate that passage heavily.

6. (anatomy, intransitive) to form a joint or connect by joints

   The lower jaw articulates with the skull at the temporomandibular joint.

7. (obsolete) To treat or make terms.
   • c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, act 1, scene 9, lines 75–77:

     Send us to Rome / The best, with whom we may articulate / For their own good and ours.

Derived terms

• articulable
• articulatability
• articulatable
• articulative
• articulator
• articulatory
• coarticulate
• dearticulate
• disarticulate
• exarticulate
• malarticulate
• misarticulate
• overarticulate
• rearticulate
• underarticulate

 

Related terms

• articulation
• pseudoarticulated
• pseudoarticulation

Translations

to make clear

• Bulgarian: изяснявам (bg) (izjasnjavam)
• Dutch: uitleggen (nl)
• Finnish: selventää (fi)
• French: articuler (fr)
• German: artikulieren (de)
• Greek: διευκρινίζω (el) (diefkrinízo)
• Ido: artikular (io)
• Portuguese: articular (pt)
• Punjabi: ਸਾਫ਼ ਬੋਲਣਾ (sāf bolṇā), ਸਪੱਸ਼ਟੀਕਰਨ ਦੇਣਾ (sapaśśaṭīkran deṇā)
• Romanian: articula (ro)

to speak clearly

• Bulgarian: произнасям ясно (proiznasjam jasno), артикулирам (bg) (artikuliram)
• Czech: artikulovat (cs)
• Dutch: articuleren (nl), goed/correct uitspreken (nl), uitspraak verzorgen (nl)
• Finnish: artikuloida (fi), ääntää (fi)
• French: articuler (fr)
• German: artikulieren (de)
• Greek: αρθρώνω (el) (arthróno)
• Hungarian: artikulál (hu)
• Ido: artikular (io)
• Irish: fuaimnigh
• Polish: artykułować (pl) impf, wyartykułować pf
• Portuguese: articular (pt)
• Punjabi: ਸਾਫ਼ ਬੋਲਣਾ (sāf bolṇā)
• Romanian: articula (ro)
• Spanish: articular (es), vocalizar (es)
• Swedish: artikulera (sv)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

to explain

• Dutch: uitdrukken (nl)
• Finnish: selittää (fi)
• French: formuler (fr)
• German: ausdrücken (de)
• Greek: αποσαφηνίζω (el) (aposafinízo)
• Hungarian: artikulál (hu), kifejez (hu), szavakba önt

to hinge

• Dutch: geleed (nl) zijn
• Finnish: niveltää, saranoida (fi)
• Greek: αρθρώνω (el) (arthróno)

music: to attack a note

• Dutch: benadrukken (nl)
• Finnish: artikuloida (fi)
• German: betonen (de)
• Polish: artykułować (pl) impf, wyartykułować pf

anatomy: to form a joint

• Bulgarian: свързвам (bg) (svǎrzvam), съединявам (bg) (sǎedinjavam)
• Dutch: articuleren (nl)
• Esperanto: artikigi
• Finnish: niveltyä
• French: articuler (fr)
• Greek: αρθρώνω (el) (arthróno)
• Hungarian: ízesül (hu), ízül (hu) (rare)
• Portuguese: articular (pt)
• Spanish: articularse (es)

Further reading

• “articulate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “articulate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Latin

Verb

articulāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of articulō

References

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

Spanish

Verb

articulate

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