— conjugational , adj. — conjugationally , adv.
/kon'jeuh gay"sheuhn/ , n.
1. Gram.
a. the inflection of verbs.
b. the whole set of inflected forms of a verb or the recital or display thereof in a fixed order: The conjugation of the Latin verb amo begins amo, amas, amat.
c. a class of verbs having similar sets of inflected forms: the Latin second conjugation.
2. an act of joining: a conjugation of related ideas.
3. the state of being joined together; union; conjunction.
4. Biol.
a. the reproductive process in ciliate protozoans in which two organisms of different mating types exchange nuclear material through a temporary area of fusion.
b. temporary union or permanent fusion as a form of sexual reproduction in certain algae and fungi, the male gametes of one organism uniting with female gametes of the other.
c. a temporary union of two bacteria, in Escherichia and related groups, in which genetic material is transferred by migration of a plasmid, either solitary or as part of a chromosome, from one bacterium, the donor, to the other, the recipient; sometimes also including the transfer of resistance to antibiotics.
[ 1400-50; late ME conjugacion ( conjugation- (s. of conjugatio ), equiv. to conjugat ( us ) (see CONJUGATE) + -ion- -ION ]