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.
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.
She... may communicate him.
Jer. Taylor.
☞ 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. — 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.