Combinations

How to spell combinations

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce combinations

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does combinations mean?

1. nounDifferent ways in which things or people are joined, grouped, or arranged together.
2. nounThe sequences of numbers or symbols used to open locks or safes.

Combinations in a sentence

• The menu lets diners build their own combinations of toppings.

• The manager keeps a record of all the safe combinations in a sealed envelope.

• The designer tested several colour combinations before choosing one.

• Staff are told to change their locker combinations at the start of each term.

Where does combinations come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb combinare, meaning 'to join two things together', which was built from com- 'together' and bini 'two by two' or 'in pairs'. The underlying sense was very literal: pairing items off two at a time. Late Latin formed the noun combinatio for the act of joining, and English took the word through Old French in the late 1300s, originally in the sense of an alliance or union of people. Over time the meaning broadened to cover any arrangement of things grouped together, including the mathematical sense of selecting items from a set. The hidden 'bi' element, tied to 'two', is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps a single 'm' and runs straight into 'bin', not 'comb'.

How the word is built

• com- (together)
• bin (two together, from Latin bini 'two by two')
• -ation (noun-forming suffix)
• -s (plural)