ovulate

English

Pronunciation

• (verb) IPA^(key): /ˈɒvjʊleɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (adjective) IPA^(key): /ˈɒvjʊlət/

Etymology 1

From ovul(e) +‎ -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare French ovuler.

Verb

ovulate (third-person singular simple present ovulates, present participle ovulating, simple past and past participle ovulated)

1. (intransitive) To produce eggs or ova.
   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 96:

     Other studies have shown that women living near the equator have a marked tendency to ovulate during the full moon.

Derived terms

• ovulation
• ovulatory

Translations

produce eggs or ova

• Catalan: ovular (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 排卵 (zh) (páiluǎn)

• Finnish: ovuloida
• French: ovuler (fr)
• Galician: ovular (gl)
• Irish: ubhsceith
• Italian: ovulare (it)
• Maori: tukuhua
• Norwegian: ha eggløsning
• Polish: jajeczkować (pl) impf, mieć owulację impf
• Portuguese: ovular
• Spanish: ovular (es)

Etymology 2

From ovul(e) +‎ -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Adjective

ovulate (not comparable)

1. (botany) Containing, or bearing, an ovule.
   • 1948, W. C. Cumming, Francis Irving Righter, Methods Used to Control Pollination of Pines in the Sierra Nevada of California, page 3:

     Ovulate flowers are usually isolated by enclosing them individually or in clusters in pollenproof bags […]

Derived terms

• multiovulate

References

• “ovulate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “ovulate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• volutae

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

ovulate

1. inflection of ovulare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

ovulate f pl

1. feminine plural of ovulato

Anagrams

• avutole, evoluta

Spanish

Verb

ovulate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of ovular combined with te