agglutinate

[ verb uh-gloot-n-eyt; adjective uh-gloot-n-it, -eyt ]

verb (used with or without object)

, ag·glu·ti·nat·ed, ag·glu·ti·nat·ing.

1. to unite or cause to adhere, as with glue.
2. Immunology. to clump or cause to clump, as bacteria or blood platelets.
3. Linguistics. to form by agglutination.

adjective

1. united by or as by glue.
2. agglutinative.

agglutinate

verb

1. to adhere or cause to adhere, as with glue
2. linguistics to combine or be combined by agglutination
3. tr to cause (bacteria, red blood cells, etc) to clump together

adjective

1. united or stuck, as by glue

Derived Forms

• agˈglutinant, adjective
• agˈglutinable, adjective
• agˌglutinaˈbility, noun

Other Words From

• ag·glu·tin·a·bil·i·ty [uh, -gloot-n-, uh, -, bil, -i-tee], noun
• ag·glutin·a·ble adjective
• inter·ag·gluti·nate verb (used without object) interagglutinated interagglutinating
• nonag·gluti·nating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of agglutinate¹

1535–45; < Latin agglūtinātus (past participle of agglūtināre ), equivalent to ag- ag- + glūtin- (stem of glūten glue) + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of agglutinate¹

C16: from Latin agglūtināre to glue to, from gluten glue

Example Sentences

The agglutinated heads represent “all her children,” she added — but also perhaps “her other selves.”

From New York Times

Ten feet square, it agglutinates irregularly alternating triangles of pink, scarlet and wine into a syncopated pattern that seems to shift and fizzle.

From New York Times

Ms. Humphries is best known for shimmering, burbling abstract paintings that agglutinate stenciled marks, typographical stutters, and deceptive spills and splashes that in fact result from careful composition.

From New York Times

These agglutinates accumulate over time and can make up 60 to 70 percent of mature regolith samples.

From Scientific American

It urges those who work in it to agglutinate and machinate.

From Economist

Related Words

• blend
• coalesce
• combine
• dissolve
• integrate
• melt
• merge
• mingle
• weld