Communicate

How to spell communicate

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce communicate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does communicate mean?

1. verbTo share or exchange information, ideas, or feelings with others.

Communicate in a sentence

• The manager struggled to communicate the new policy clearly to her team.

• Good colleagues communicate openly about deadlines and problems.

Where does communicate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb communicare, meaning 'to share' or 'to make common', which was built on the adjective communis, meaning 'shared by all' or 'common'. That adjective combined com- 'together' with an old root linked to munus, a 'duty', 'gift', or 'service' owed within a community. The original idea was therefore very physical: to communicate was to share something out, to give others a portion. English took the word up in the sixteenth century, at first meaning literally 'to share' or 'to impart', before it settled on the modern sense of passing on information or ideas. The same communis root sits inside the familiar words 'common', 'community', and 'communion', and remembering that shared family helps explain the double m and the single n that give spellers trouble.

How the word is built

• commun- (from communis: shared, common)
• -ic-
• -ate (verb suffix)