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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

alligate en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /ˈælɪɡeɪt/

Etymology

From Latin alligatus (“tied, bound”), past participle of alligo (“to bind”), from ad + ligo (“to bind”). Doublet of alloy.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Having the same proportion or ratio.
    • The proportional parts are then found by reducing the alligate parts to the same denominator , dropping the denominators and writing the numerators . 1938, Joseph A. Zappa, Civil Service Manual: Mental Tests for Federal Examinations, page 94:

alligate en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /ˈælɪɡeɪt/

Etymology

From Latin alligatus (“tied, bound”), past participle of alligo (“to bind”), from ad + ligo (“to bind”). Doublet of alloy.

Meanings

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To bind or tie; to unite.
    • Poor Blind Tom, the very tail end of the long decadency, has a gift that alligates him to the angels. 1887, S. F. Walker, The Ruins Revisited, and the World-story Retold, page 38:
    • Instincts alligated to their nature. a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677, →OCLC:
  2. To solve an arithmetic problem concerning proportions by means of alligation; to associate as having the same ratio.
    • Link or alligate the branches, so as one greater and another less than the root may be linked or yoked together. 1859, J. Smith Homans, A Cyclopedia of Commerce and Commercial Navigation, page 27:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
alligates Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
alligating Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
alligated Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
alligated Tense=Past lexicographic