Copula

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkɒpjʊlə/

Definitions

1. A word or phrase that functions to join subjects with their predicates is crucial in grammar
2. A term used in grammar that connects the subject of a sentence to its complement or description
3. A linguistic element serving to join the subject with a word or phrase that describes or identifies it

Etymology: The word "copula" sounds like a piece of modern grammar jargon, but it is simply the Latin word for a connection. Latin "cōpula" meant a bond, link or tie, built from "co-" meaning "together" and "apere," meaning "to fasten." That same root gives English "couple," and the two are doublets: they descend from one Latin source but entered English by different routes, so one arrived as a learned borrowing while the other came into the language in everyday use. In grammar, the Latin sense of linking was applied to the verb that connects a subject with its description, as in "the sky is blue." The term was taken directly from Latin, so the grammatical meaning is the classical one: a word that joins the two halves of a sentence rather than naming an action. Within the Latin sense, the link is literal, a fastening between things, and the grammatical use simply carries that image over to words.

Synonyms: linking verb, verb, connector, copulative verb, copulative