coordinate

1 of 3

adjective

co·​or·​di·​nate kō-ˈȯrd-nət How to pronounce coordinate (audio)
-ˈȯr-də-nət,
-də-ˌnāt
1
a
: equal in rank, quality, or significance
keeping the branches of government coordinate
b
: being of equal rank in a sentence
coordinate clauses
2
: relating to or marked by coordination
3
a
: being a university that awards degrees to men and women taught usually by the same faculty but attending separate classes often on separate campuses
b
: being one of the colleges and especially the women's branch of a coordinate university
4
: of, relating to, or being a system of indexing by two or more terms so that documents may be retrieved through the intersection of index terms
coordinately adverb
coordinateness noun

coordinate

2 of 3

verb

co·​or·​di·​nate kō-ˈȯr-də-ˌnāt How to pronounce coordinate (audio)
coordinated; coordinating

transitive verb

1
: to put in the same order or rank
2
: to bring into a common action, movement, or condition : harmonize
coordinate schedules
She'll be coordinating the relief effort.
3
: to attach so as to form a coordination complex

intransitive verb

1
: to be or become equal in rank, quality, or significance especially so as to act or work together well
2
: to combine by means of a coordinate bond
coordinative
kō-ˈȯrd-nə-tiv How to pronounce coordinate (audio)
-ˈȯr-də-nə-tiv
-də-ˌnā-
adjective

coordinate

3 of 3

noun

co·​or·​di·​nate kō-ˈȯrd-nət How to pronounce coordinate (audio)
-ˈȯr-də-nət,
-də-ˌnāt
1
a
: any of a set of numbers used in specifying the location of a point on a line, on a surface, or in space
latitude and longitude coordinates
b
: any one of a set of variables used in specifying the state of a substance or the motion of a particle or momentum
2
: one who is of equal rank, authority, or importance with another
3
coordinates plural : articles (as of clothing) designed to be used together and to attain their effect through pleasing contrast (as of color, material, or texture)

Examples of coordinate in a Sentence

Verb She'll be coordinating the relief effort. You'll have to coordinate with the sales department. National and international relief efforts must coordinate if the operation is to be successful. We need to coordinate our schedules. Dancers need to coordinate their moves. Since his illness, he has had trouble coordinating his arms and legs. Noun We calculated its exact coordinates. the Nobel Memorial Award for Economic Science is universally regarded as the coordinate of the original Nobel Prizes for peace, literature, medicine, physics, and chemistry
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
The map was an attempt at a compromise between distorting the areas of continents and the angles of coordinate line. Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 29 Nov. 2022 There exist a number of particularly useful coordinate choices for this space. Mark Trodden, Discover Magazine, 15 Apr. 2012 Arbery’s plays and his characters roam this coordinate plane in all directions, occupying many quadrants at once. Chloé Cooper Jones, New York Times, 16 Nov. 2022 The hexagons, which covered the entire enclosure, appeared to form the individual units of a grid—similar to the squares formed by the coordinate lines on a road map. May-Britt Moser, Scientific American, 1 Jan. 2016 The initial rollout of coronavirus vaccines in the US has been slow and messy, as states have tried coordinate plans for appointments with little federal guidance. Kim Lyons, The Verge, 25 Jan. 2021 The x-axis and y-axis show the two dimensions of a coordinate plane. Dave Linkletter, Popular Mechanics, 22 July 2022 Cedarburg City Administrator Mikko Hilvo said his Ozaukee County community has been hearing from citizens about the city's coordinate address system, too. Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2022 Doyle, who formerly served as the coordinate mayor of Cork County, Ireland, was due to visit for 2020's parade before its last-minute cancellation. Lauren Wethington, Detroit Free Press, 11 Mar. 2022
Verb
Endorsed candidates can raise additional funds that are funneled through the party and can coordinate with the party on how that money is spent, such as to pay for mailers and other promotional materials or even directly transferred back into their campaign. Emily Alvarenga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Apr. 2024 Our movements and locations are shared, coordinated and identified already. CBS News, 7 Apr. 2024 The strike on World Central Kitchen was especially jarring because the aid workers had coordinated their route with the Israeli military in advance. Dan Lamothe, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024 Bloomington has coordinated with service providers to deploy COWs in low coverage areas, said Rick Dietz, director of the city’s Information & Technology Services Department, in an email. John Towfighi, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024 Abdel Kareem Hana / AP In a briefing on Friday, the IDF said WCK had coordinated its movements with Israeli authorities correctly, but the officers committed three errors. Gabe Joselow, NBC News, 6 Apr. 2024 Bainbridge said staff and counselors would coordinate with the students' home school districts. Frank Vaisvilas, Journal Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2024 Barrios said the nonprofit will coordinate with Baltimore County officials who are working with the victims’ families to distribute the funds. Emily Davies, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2024 Some stakeholders suggested using a third-party working with existing state agencies including the Franchise Tax Board to coordinate the data while at the same time addressing privacy concerns. Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Mar. 2024
Noun
The specific coordinates determined by USGS correspond to a spot along a pond near a dairy farm in the community of Tewksbury. Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024 On the humanitarian side, the process is run chiefly by a dedicated unit of the United Nations, through which U.N. agencies and other organizations submit the coordinates of humanitarian sites such as offices, clinics, warehouses and guesthouses. Louisa Loveluck, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024 While international organizations like the WCK have deconfliction arrangements and share the coordinates of their movements with the Israeli military, Mr. Abu Sultan, and many humanitarian workers like him, use public transportation every day. Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Apr. 2024 Israel said the coordinates never filtered down to the drone operators who fired the missiles. Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024 Three months later, the Israeli military has provided no explanation for its targeting of the house, coordinates of which had been shared with Israeli authorities through the U.N.’s deconfliction process. Yasmeen Serhan, TIME, 3 Apr. 2024 According to DeepMind, the suggestions made by the model were rated as useful by Liverpool coaches twice as often as current techniques, which are based only on the physical coordinates of the players and don’t take into account their movement or physical attributes. Amit Katwala, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2024 The coordinates that Near Intelligence collected and left exposed online pinpoint locations to within a few centimeters of space. Dhruv Mehrotra, WIRED, 28 Mar. 2024 The coordinates point to mansions in gated communities in Michigan and Florida; homes in Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts; a nightclub in Miami; and the sidewalk across the street from Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Lucas Ropek / Gizmodo, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'coordinate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective, Verb, and Noun

probably back-formation from coordination

First Known Use

Adjective

1641, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1665, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

1806, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of coordinate was in 1641

Dictionary Entries Near coordinate

Cite this Entry

“Coordinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coordinate. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

coordinate

1 of 3 adjective
co·​or·​di·​nate kō-ˈȯrd-nət How to pronounce coordinate (audio)
-ᵊn-ət
1
: equal in rank
2
: being of equal rank in a compound sentence
coordinate clauses
coordinately adverb

coordinate

2 of 3 verb
co·​or·​di·​nate kō-ˈȯrd-ᵊn-ˌāt How to pronounce coordinate (audio)
coordinated; coordinating
1
: to make or become coordinate
2
: to work or cause to work together smoothly
coordinator noun

coordinate

3 of 3 noun
co·​or·​di·​nate kō-ˈȯrd-nət How to pronounce coordinate (audio)
-ᵊn-ət
1
: one that is coordinate with another
2
: any of a set of numbers used to locate a point on a line or surface or in space

Medical Definition

coordinate

verb
co·​or·​di·​nate kō-ˈȯrd-ᵊn-ˌāt How to pronounce coordinate (audio)
coordinated; coordinating

transitive verb

: to bring into a common action, movement, or condition
coordinate muscular movements

intransitive verb

: to function together in a concerted way

More from Merriam-Webster on coordinate

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