conjugation: Meaning and Definition of

con•ju•ga•tion

Pronunciation: (kon"ju-gā'shun), [key]
— n.
  1. The conjugation of the Latin verb
    1. the inflection of verbs.
    2. the whole set of inflected forms of a verb or the recital or display thereof in a fixed order:The conjugation of the Latin verbamo begins amō, amas, amat.
    3. a class of verbs having similar sets of inflected forms:the Latin second conjugation.
  2. an act of joining: a conjugation of related ideas.
  3. the state of being joined together; union; conjunction.
    1. the reproductive process in ciliate protozoans in which two organisms of different mating types exchange nuclear material through a temporary area of fusion.
    2. temporary union or permanent fusion as a form of sexual reproduction in certain algae and fungi, the male gametes of one organism uniting with female gametes of the other.
    3. a temporary union of two bacteria, in Escherichia and related groups, in which genetic material is transferred by migration of a plasmid, either solitary or as part of a chromosome, from one bacterium, the donor, to the other, the recipient; sometimes also including the transfer of resistance to antibiotics.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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