coaptate

co·apt·ate
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UK/ˌkəʊ̯ˈæpt.eɪ̯t/UK/ˌkəʊ̯ˈapt.eɪ̯t/Canada, US/ˌkoʊ̯ˈæpt.eɪ̯t/Australia/ˌkəʉ̯ˈæpt.æɪ̯t/

verb

To join or attach.

OriginLate Latin coaptātus →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

verbcoaptate (third-person singular simple present coaptates, present participle coaptating, simple past and past participle coaptated)

present singular third person coaptates · participle present coaptating · participle past coaptated · past coaptated

  1. transitivemedicineTo join or attach.

    Female patients sometimes tell us that another woman enters her body and coaptates herself to it, especially during the act of coitus.

    1900, Henry Johns Berkley, A Treatise on Mental Diseases, page 387
    1 more example

    It is a metaphor drawn from Carpenters and other Artificers, who by ſeverall joynts do ſo coaptate and fit the parts of their work unto one another,[…].

    1645, Edward Reynolds, Israels prayer […], quoted in OED, London, page 44

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
coapt

Origin

  1. Late Latincoaptātus
  2. Englishcoaptate

Back-formation from coaptation, or borrowed from Late Latin coaptātus, perfect passive participle of coaptō, from co- + aptō (“to fasten”). By surface analysis, coapt + -ate (verbal suffix). First attested in 1645. Doublet of coapt.

More words from Late Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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