copular

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English copula

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -ārisbor.

English -ar

English copular

From copula + -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑpjələ(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒpjələ(ɹ)
• Homophone: copula(non-rhotic)
• Hyphenation: cop‧u‧lar

Adjective

copular (not comparable)

1. (grammar) Being or relating to a copula.

   a copular verb

Derived terms

• copularly
• noncopular

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: kopula-
• German: kopular
• Polish: łącznikowy (pl)

Anagrams

• croupal, cupolar

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin cōpulāre. Doublet of acoblar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [ku.puˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Northwestern) [ko.puˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ko.puˈlaɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

copular (first-person singular present copulo, first-person singular preterite copulí, past participle copulat)

1. (ambitransitive) to copulate

   Synonym: acoblar

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of copular (first conjugation)

infinitive			copular
gerund			copulant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		copulat		copulada
		plural		copulats		copulades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	copulo	copules	copula	copulem	copuleu	copulen
	imperfect	copulava	copulaves	copulava	copulàvem	copulàveu	copulaven
	future	copularé	copularàs	copularà	copularem	copulareu	copularan
	preterite	copulí	copulares	copulà	copulàrem	copulàreu	copularen
	conditional	copularia	copularies	copularia	copularíem	copularíeu	copularien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	copuli	copulis	copuli	copulem	copuleu	copulin
	imperfect	copulés	copulessis	copulés	copuléssim	copuléssiu	copulessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	copula	copuli	copulem	copuleu	copulin
	negative (no)	—	no copulis	no copuli	no copulem	no copuleu	no copulin

Related terms

• còpula
• copulació

Further reading

• “copular”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “copular”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “copular” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “copular”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Italic *kom

Proto-Italic *kom-

Latin con-

Proto-Indo-European [Term?]der.

Proto-Italic *apjō

Latin apiō

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-om

Proto-Indo-European *-trom

Proto-Indo-European *-tlom, *-dʰlom

Latin -ula

Latin *coapula

Latin cōpula

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin cōpulārelbor.

Portuguese copular

Learned borrowing from Latin cōpulāre.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ko.puˈla(ʁ)/ [ko.puˈla(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ko.puˈla(ʁ)/ [ko.puˈla(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ko.puˈla(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ko.puˈla(ʁ)/ [ko.puˈla(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ko.puˈla(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ku.puˈlaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ku.puˈlaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ku.puˈla.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: co‧pu‧lar

Verb

copular (first-person singular present copulo, first-person singular preterite copulei, past participle copulado)

1. to copulate (engage in sexual intercourse)

   Synonyms: quilhar, (Brazil) transar

2. to bind; to connect

   Synonyms: conectar, juntar, ligar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of copular (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	copular
Personal	copular	copulares	copular	copularmos	copulardes	copularem
Gerund
	copulando
Past participle
Masculine	copulado			copulados
Feminine	copulada			copuladas
Indicative
Present	copulo	copulas	copula	copulamos	copulais	copulam
Imperfect	copulava	copulavas	copulava	copulávamos	copuláveis	copulavam
Preterite	copulei	copulaste	copulou	copulamos1, copulámos2	copulastes	copularam
Pluperfect	copulara	copularas	copulara	copuláramos	copuláreis	copularam
Future	copularei	copularás	copulará	copularemos	copulareis	copularão
Conditional	copularia	copularias	copularia	copularíamos	copularíeis	copulariam
Subjunctive
Present	copule	copules	copule	copulemos	copuleis	copulem
Imperfect	copulasse	copulasses	copulasse	copulássemos	copulásseis	copulassem
Future	copular	copulares	copular	copularmos	copulardes	copularem
Imperative
Affirmative		copula	copule	copulemos	copulai	copulem
Negative (não)		não copules	não copule	não copulemos	não copuleis	não copulem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• acoplar
• cópula

Further reading

• “copular”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “copular”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Italic *kom

Proto-Italic *kom-

Latin con-

Proto-Indo-European [Term?]der.

Proto-Italic *apjō

Latin apiō

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-om

Proto-Indo-European *-trom

Proto-Indo-European *-tlom, *-dʰlom

Latin -ula

Latin *coapula

Latin cōpula

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin cōpulāreder.

Spanish copular

Derived from Latin cōpulāre. Doublet of acoplar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kopuˈlaɾ/ [ko.puˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: co‧pu‧lar

Verb

copular (first-person singular present copulo, first-person singular preterite copulé, past participle copulado)

1. to copulate

Conjugation

    Conjugation of copular (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			copular
gerund			copulando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		copulado		copulada
		plural		copulados		copuladas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	copulo	copulastú copulásvos	copula	copulamos	copuláis	copulan
	imperfect	copulaba	copulabas	copulaba	copulábamos	copulabais	copulaban
	preterite	copulé	copulaste	copuló	copulamos	copulasteis	copularon
	future	copularé	copularás	copulará	copularemos	copularéis	copularán
	conditional	copularía	copularías	copularía	copularíamos	copularíais	copularían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	copule	copulestú copulésvos2	copule	copulemos	copuléis	copulen
	imperfect (ra)	copulara	copularas	copulara	copuláramos	copularais	copularan
	imperfect (se)	copulase	copulases	copulase	copulásemos	copulaseis	copulasen
	future1	copulare	copulares	copulare	copuláremos	copulareis	copularen
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		copulatú copulávos	copule	copulemos	copulad	copulen
	negative		no copules	no copule	no copulemos	no copuléis	no copulen

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

Related terms

• cópula
• copulador

Further reading

• “copular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026