Communicate \Com*mu"ni*cate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p.
Communicated; p. pr. & vb. n. Communicating.]
[L.
communicatus, p. p. of communicare to communicate, fr.
communis common. See Commune, v. i.]
1. To share in common; to participate in. [Obs.]
To thousands that communicate our loss. --B. Jonson
2. To impart; to bestow; to convey; as, to communicate a
disease or a sensation; to communicate motion by means of
a crank.
Where God is worshiped, there he communicates his
blessings and holy influences. --Jer. Taylor.
3. To make known; to recount; to give; to impart; as, to
communicate information to any one.
4. To administer the communion to. [R.]
She [the church] . . . may communicate him. --Jer.
Taylor.
Note: This verb was formerly followed by with before the
person receiving, but now usually takes to after it.
He communicated those thoughts only with the Lord
Digby. --Clarendon.
Syn: To impart; bestow; confer; reveal; disclose; tell;
announce; recount; make known.
Usage: To Communicate, Impart, Reveal. Communicate is
the more general term, and denotes the allowing of
others to partake or enjoy in common with ourselves.
Impart is more specific. It is giving to others a part
of what we had held as our own, or making them our
partners; as, to impart our feelings; to impart of our
property, etc. Hence there is something more intimate
in imparting intelligence than in communicating it. To
reveal is to disclose something hidden or concealed;
as, to reveal a secret.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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