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)