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conglobate / conglobulate
Sep. 26th, 2011 07:14 amTheme week: doublets.
conglobate (kon-GLOHB-ayt) - v.t., to gather into a round, compact mass; v.i., to assume a globular shape.
conglobulate (kom-GLAW-byu-layt) - v.t., to gather into a round, compact mass.
The difference being the former word can be used in the sense of spontaneous action (as from surface tension or under self-gravity) while the latter cannot -- this is possibly why the former is more popular, if you go by number of dictionaries that an entry for it. Either can be an adjective, to be gathered in a globe shape. Both come from Latin roots, conglobate directly from the past participle of conglobāre, with the same meaning, from con-, together + globus, ball, sphere + -āre, infinitive ending -- while conglobulate was coined from the same roots.
---L.
conglobate (kon-GLOHB-ayt) - v.t., to gather into a round, compact mass; v.i., to assume a globular shape.
conglobulate (kom-GLAW-byu-layt) - v.t., to gather into a round, compact mass.
The difference being the former word can be used in the sense of spontaneous action (as from surface tension or under self-gravity) while the latter cannot -- this is possibly why the former is more popular, if you go by number of dictionaries that an entry for it. Either can be an adjective, to be gathered in a globe shape. Both come from Latin roots, conglobate directly from the past participle of conglobāre, with the same meaning, from con-, together + globus, ball, sphere + -āre, infinitive ending -- while conglobulate was coined from the same roots.
---L.
