Integrate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɪn.tɪ.ɡɹeɪt/

Definitions

1. To combine separate elements into a unified whole or to incorporate something as part of a larger system
2. To merge distinct components into a cohesive entity or to assimilate aspects into a broader framework
3. To unify various parts into a single system or to incorporate elements into an overarching structure

Etymology: The verb "integrate" carries a sense of making things whole, which is exactly what its Latin source meant. The Roman verb "integrare" meant to make whole, renew, repair, or begin again, and it grew from "integer," meaning whole, fresh, or untouched. That same root gave English "integer," a whole number, and "integral," something necessary to completeness. So the word began as a practical idea of restoring something to its full state. English first recorded the word as an adjective in the 1450s, meaning intact or whole, borrowed through Middle English from the Latin participle. The verb sense, to combine parts into one whole, appeared much later, in 1638. The shift from "whole" as a quality to "make into a whole" as an action is a natural step, and it is the sense the word carries today when people speak of integrating a system or a community.

Synonyms: combine, merge, unify

Antonyms: segregate, divide, separate