articulate.
To make clear or effective.
Meaning & usage
To make clear or effective.
To speak clearly; to enunciate.
I wish he’d articulate his words more clearly.
To explain; to put into words; to make something specific.
I like this painting, but I can’t articulate why.
To bend or hinge something at intervals, or to allow or build something so that it can bend.
an articulated bus
To attack a note, as by tonguing, slurring, bowing, etc.
Articulate that passage heavily.
To form a joint or connect by joints.
The lower jaw articulates with the skull at the temporomandibular joint.
To treat or make terms.
Where this word comes from
The adjective is first attested in 1531, the verb in 1551; borrowed from Latin articulātus (“distinct, articulated, jointed”), perfect passive participle of articulō, see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
Clear; effective.
Speaking in a clear and effective manner; having both good articulation and good elocution.
She’s a bright, articulate young woman.
Consisting of segments united by joints.
jointed articulate animals
The robot arm was articulate in two directions.
Distinctly marked off.
an articulate period in history
Expressed in articles or in separate items or particulars.
Related to human speech, as distinct from the vocalisation of animals.
Articulated (all senses).
Where this word comes from
The adjective is first attested in 1531, the verb in 1551; borrowed from Latin articulātus (“distinct, articulated, jointed”), perfect passive participle of articulō, see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
An animal of the subkingdom Articulata.
Where this word comes from
The adjective is first attested in 1531, the verb in 1551; borrowed from Latin articulātus (“distinct, articulated, jointed”), perfect passive participle of articulō, see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.