Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

copula

American  
[kop-yuh-luh] / ˈkɒp yə lə /

noun

plural

copulas, copulae

  1. something that connects or links together.

  2. Also called linking verb.  Grammar. a verb, as be, seem, or look, that serves as a connecting link or establishes an identity between subject and complement.

  3. Logic. a word or set of words that acts as a connecting link between the subject and predicate of a proposition.

copula British  
/ ˈkɒpjʊlə /

noun

  1. a verb, such as be, seem, or taste, that is used merely to identify or link the subject with the complement of a sentence. Copulas may serve to link nouns (or pronouns), as in he became king, nouns (or pronouns) and adjectival complements, as in sugar tastes sweet, or nouns (or pronouns) and adverbial complements, as in John is in jail

  2. anything that serves as a link

  3. logic the often unexpressed link between the subject and predicate terms of a categorial proposition, as are in all men are mortal

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • copular adjective

Etymology

Origin of copula

1640–50; < Latin cōpula, equivalent to co- co- + ap- fasten ( apt ) + -ula -ule

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.