Agglutinate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əˈɡluːtɪnət/

Definitions

1. To cause different parts to stick or join firmly together ; to create complex words by combining smaller meaningful units
2. To bring separate elements into a single mass through adhesion ; to build words by attaching affixes or roots without changing them
3. To make things adhere or clump into one unit ; to form compound words by linking distinct morphemes in sequence

Etymology: The most striking thing about this word is how physical its origin is: Latin "glūten" meant glue or paste, and the verb built on it meant to stick one thing firmly onto another. The Latin prefix "ad-" ("to") was added to "glūtināre" ("to glue") to make "agglūtināre," meaning to cement something to a surface. English took the past participle "agglūtinātus" and turned it into a verb, so the word began as a plain description of things being glued together. Over time the sense moved from actual adhesion to a figurative one. Linguists later borrowed the same image for languages: in a language that agglutinates, words are built by gluing separate affixes and roots together, each piece keeping its own shape. Turkish and Finnish are classic examples. The word therefore went from describing sticky substances to describing a way of building grammar, while keeping the original picture of distinct parts fused into one mass.

Synonyms: adhere, stick, cohere, bind, clump

Antonyms: detach, separate, disunite, dissociate, divide