penetrate
See also: penetrãte
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin penētrātus, past participle of penētrō (“to put, set, or place within, enter, pierce, penetrate”), from penes (“within, with”) by analogy to intrō (“to go in, enter”).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
penetrate (third-person singular simple present penetrates, present participle penetrating, simple past and past participle penetrated)
- To enter into; to make way into the interior of; to pierce.
- Light penetrates darkness.
- 1879, Th Du Moncel, The Telephone, the Microphone and the Phonograph, Harper, page 166:
- He takes the prepared charcoal used by artists, brings it to a white heat, and suddenly plunges it in a bath of mercury, of which the globules instantly penetrate the pores of charcoal, and may be said to metallize it.
- (figuratively) To achieve understanding of, despite some obstacle; to comprehend; to understand.
- I could not penetrate Burke's opaque rhetoric.
- 1691, John Ray, The wisdom of God manifested in the works of the creation
- things which here were […] too subtile for us to penetrate
- To affect profoundly through the senses or feelings; to move deeply.
- to penetrate one's heart with pity
- 1867, Matthew Arnold, On the Study of Celtic Literature
- The translator of Homer should penetrate himself with a sense of the plainness and directness of Homer's style.
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act 2, scene 3]:
- I am advised to give her music o' mornings; they say it will penetrate
- To infiltrate an enemy to gather intelligence.
- To insert the penis into an opening, such as a vagina or anus.
- a male elephant comes up and penetrates the female
- (chess) To move a piece past the defending pieces of one's opponent.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
enter into
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insert the penis into an opening, such as a vagina
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Further readingEdit
- penetrate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- penetrate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- penetrate at OneLook Dictionary Search
EsperantoEdit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
penetrate
- present adverbial passive participle of penetri
ItalianEdit
VerbEdit
penetrate
- second-person plural present indicative of penetrare
- second-person plural imperative of penetrare
- feminine plural of penetrato
LatinEdit
VerbEdit
penetrāte