I. ˈkän-ji-gət, -jə-ˌgāt adjective
Etymology: Middle English conjugat, from Latin conjugatus, past participle of conjugare to unite, from com- + jugare to join, from jugum yoke — more at yoke
Date: 15th century
1.
a. : joined together especially in pairs : coupled
b. : acting or operating as if joined
2.
a. : having features in common but opposite or inverse in some particular
b. : relating to or being conjugate complex numbers
complex roots occurring in conjugate pairs
3. of an acid or base : related by the difference of a proton
the acid NH 4 + and the base NH 3 are conjugate to each other
4. : having the same derivation and therefore usually some likeness in meaning
conjugate words
5. of two leaves of a book : forming a single piece
• con·ju·gate·ly adverb
• con·ju·gate·ness noun
II. -jə-ˌgāt verb
( -gat·ed ; -gat·ing )
Date: 1530
transitive verb
1. : to give in prescribed order the various inflectional forms of — used especially of a verb
2. : to join together
intransitive verb
1. : to become joined together
2.
a. : to pair and fuse in conjugation
b. : to pair in synapsis
III. same as 1 noun
Date: circa 1586
1. : something conjugate : a product of conjugating
2. : conjugate complex number
3. : an element of a mathematical group that is equal to a given element of the group multiplied on the right by another element and on the left by the inverse of the latter element