Articulate

How to spell articulate

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce articulate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does articulate mean?

1. adjectiveAble to express thoughts and feelings clearly and fluently in speech or writing.
2. verbTo express an idea or feeling clearly and in well-chosen words.

Articulate in a sentence

• adjective

  The candidate was remarkably articulate during the panel interview.

• verb

  He struggled to articulate exactly why the project had failed.

• adjective

  Her articulate summary of the budget convinced the whole board.

• verb

  The report helped the team articulate their goals for the coming year.

Where does articulate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin articulus, meaning 'a small joint' or 'a little division', itself a diminutive of artus, meaning 'a joint or limb'. The Romans built the verb articulare from it, with the literal sense of 'to divide into separate joints', which extended naturally to speech that is divided into distinct, clearly separated sounds. English adopted articulate in the 1500s, first as an adjective for speech that was clearly jointed and intelligible, and soon afterwards as a verb meaning to utter words distinctly. The same Latin root gives us 'article' (a small distinct piece of writing) and the medical term for where bones meet, an articulation, so the underlying idea of small connected parts runs through them all. Remembering that joint-by-joint origin helps with the spelling: the stressed -tic- sits in the middle, and the ending is the unstressed -ate that catches many writers out.

How the word is built

• articul- (from Latin articulus: a small joint or division)
• -ate (verb/adjective suffix)