articulation

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UK/ɑːˌtɪk.jʊˈleɪ.ʃən/Canada, US/ɑɹˌtɪk.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/Australia/ɐːˌtɪk.jəˈlæɪ.ʃən/New Zealand/ɐːˌtək.jəˈlæɪ.ʃən/

noun

A joint or the collection of joints at which something is articulated, or hinged, for bending.

“The articulation allowed the robot to move around corners.”

Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

nounarticulation (countable and uncountable, plural articulations)

plural articulations

  1. countableuncountableA joint or the collection of joints at which something is articulated, or hinged, for bending.

    The articulation allowed the robot to move around corners.

    1. countableuncountableanatomySuch a joint in an animalian body, as for example between bones or between exoskeleton segments.

      Synonyms: joint, arthrosis

  2. countableA manner or method by which elements of a system are connected.

    In this paper, we make a step forward, by considering term to query articulations, that is articulations relating queries of one source to terms in another

    2004, R. Meersman, On the move to meaningful internet systems 2004, page 945
  3. uncountableThe quality, clarity, or sharpness of speech; the movement within the mouth that allows for those things.

    His volume is reasonable, but his articulation could use work.

    1 more example

    Take Jools Lebron, whose viral craze over her articulation of “very demure” made its way throughout the pop culture lexicon like wildfire.

    2026 March 9, Cyrus Veyssi, “In Defense of Influencers”, in TIME, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2026
  4. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe mechanism by which a sound is formed in the vocal tract.

    place of articulation

    2 more examples

    manner of articulation

    point of articulation

  5. uncountableentertainmentThe manner in which a note is attacked.

    The articulation in this piece is tricky because it alternates between legato and staccato.

    1 more example

    This articulation is based on the rapid flutter of the tip of the tongue, with the tongue shaped as in the syllable tr or dr.

    1970, Edwin Putnik, The Art of Flute-Playing, Summy-Birchard Company, page 44
  6. countableuncountableaccountingThe interrelation and congruence of the flow of data between financial statements of an entity, especially between the income statement and balance sheet.

    Particular income statement accounts (revenues and expenses) are linked to particular balance sheet accounts (assets and liabilities); that is, there is articulation between the income statement and the balance sheet.

    2005, David T. Collins, “Accounting and Financial Reporting Issues”, Chapter 6 of Robert L. Brown and Alan S. Gutterman (editors), Emerging Companies Guide: A Resource for Professionals and Entrepreneurs, American Bar Association, page 169
    2 more examples

    At the time the outstanding distinction that could be seen between Copeland-Fed on the one hand and Goldsmith-Friend on the other was that the flow-of-funds system explicitly included nonfinancial transactions in the statistical structure in direct articulation with financial flows and stocks.

    1991, Stephen P. Taylor, “From Moneyflows Accounts to Flow-of-Funds Accounts”, printed in John C. Dawson (editor), Flow-of-Funds Analysis: A Handbook for Practitioners, M.E. Sharpe (1996), page 103

    The emphasis on articulated information about environmental liabilities in the management accounts is not stressed. Articulation between stock and flow information in physical environment terms receives less attention.

    2005, Roger L. Burritt, “Challenges for Environmental Management Accounting”, Chapter 2 of Pall M. Rikhardsson et al. (editors), Implementing Environmental Management Accounting: Status and Challenges, Springer, page 28
  7. countableuncountableeducationThe induction of a pupil into a new school or college.

    A survey of college provisions for high school-college articulation cannot alone serve to describe the total effort that is being made or should be made in this direction.

    1950, Committee on High School-College Relationships, High School-college Curriculum Articulation in Minnesota, page 18
    1 more example

    The latter reason ranked first in Item 1 as the reason for liking high school this year, giving emphasis to the fact that differences in the new school level may be either a factor of articulation, depending somewhat on how well informed the student is about his new level.

    1949, Wilfred Mason Landrus, Articulation Between the Elementary and Secondary School Levels, page 47

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSuch a joint in an animalian body, as for example between bones or between exoskeleton segments.

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe shape or manner in which things come together and a connection is made

nounexpressing in coherent verbal form

Similar
Broader
expressionverbal expressionverbalism

noun(anatomy) the point of connection between two bones or elements of a skeleton (especially if it allows motion)

Similar
jointarticulatio
Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂r-tú-s
  2. Proto-Italic*artus
  3. Latinartus
  4. Ancient Greekἄρθρον (árthron)
  5. Latinarticulus
  6. Latinarticulō
  7. Medieval Latinarticulātiō
  8. Old Frencharticulacion
  9. Middle Englisharticulacioun
  10. Englisharticulation

From Middle English articulacioun, from Old French articulacion, from Medieval Latin articulatio. Equivalent to articulate + -ion.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian става, шарнир
  • става (stava)joint or collection of joints
  • шарнир (šarnir)joint or collection of joints
Catalan articulació
  • articulaciójoint or collection of joints
Chinese Mandarin 吐字, 咬字
  • 吐字 (tǔzì)clarity of speech
  • 咬字 (yǎozì)clarity of speech
  • 調音 /调音 (diàoyīn)linguistics: means of uttering a phoneme
Finnish nivellys, niveltäminen
  • nivellysmanner or method by which elements of a system are connected
  • niveltäminenmanner or method by which elements of a system are connected
  • lausuminenclarity of speech
  • artikulointiclarity of speech
  • artikulaatioclarity of speech
  • artikulointimusic: manner of articulation
  • yhteysaccounting: interrelation of financial statements
  • niveljoint or collection of joints
  • nivelistöjoint or collection of joints
German Artikulation
  • Artikulationclarity of speech
Indonesian artikulasi, artikulasi
  • artikulasiclarity of speech
  • artikulasilinguistics: means of uttering a phoneme
  • persendianjoint or collection of joints
  • artikulasijoint or collection of joints
Irish urlabhairt, urlabhraíocht
  • urlabhairtclarity of speech
  • urlabhraíochtclarity of speech
Italian articolazione, articolazione
  • articolazioneclarity of speech
  • articolazionejoint or collection of joints
Japanese 接合, 明瞭な発音
  • 接合 (setsugō)manner or method by which elements of a system are connected
  • 明瞭な発音 (meiryō na hatsuon)clarity of speech
  • 滑舌 (katsuzetsu)clarity of speech
  • 調音 (chō'on)linguistics: means of uttering a phoneme
  • アーティキュレーション (ātikyurēshon)music: manner of articulation
  • 連携 (renkei)accounting: interrelation of financial statements
  • 関節 (kansetsu)joint or collection of joints
Malay artikulasi, kepetahan
  • artikulasiclarity of speech
  • kepetahanclarity of speech
  • artikulasilinguistics: means of uttering a phoneme
  • persendianjoint or collection of joints
Norwegian artikulasjon
  • artikulasjonclarity of speech
Persian مفصل
  • مفصلjoint or collection of joints
Polish artykulacja, artykulacja
  • artykulacjaclarity of speech
  • artykulacjalinguistics: means of uttering a phoneme
  • artykulacjamusic: manner of articulation
  • artykulacjajoint or collection of joints
Romanian articulație
  • articulațiejoint or collection of joints
Russian артикуля́ция, артикуля́ция
  • артикуля́ция (artikuljácija)clarity of speech
  • артикуля́ция (artikuljácija)music: manner of articulation
  • сочлене́ние (sočlenénije)joint or collection of joints
  • шарни́р (šarnír)joint or collection of joints
Spanish articulación, articulación
  • articulaciónmanner or method by which elements of a system are connected
  • articulaciónclarity of speech
  • articulaciónjoint or collection of joints
Swedish artikulation, led
  • artikulationclarity of speech
  • ledjoint or collection of joints
  • ledfogningjoint or collection of joints
Tagalog kasukasuan
  • kasukasuanjoint or collection of joints
Turkish artikülasyon, boğumlanma
  • artikülasyonclarity of speech
  • boğumlanmaclarity of speech
  • telaffuzclarity of speech
  • mafsaljoint or collection of joints
Ukrainian артикуля́ція
  • артикуля́ція (artykuljácija)linguistics: means of uttering a phoneme

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with articulation

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

articulation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/articulation

MLA

“articulation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/articulation. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “articulation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/articulation.

Source: articulation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.