communication

Borrowed from Old French communicacion, from Latin commūnicātiōnem, accusative singular of commūnicātiō (“imparting, communicating”), from commūnicō (“I share, I impart”).

• IPA^(key): /kʌˌmjunɪˈkeɪʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: com‧mu‧ni‧ca‧tion
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

communication (countable and uncountable, plural communications)

1. The act or fact of communicating anything; transmission.

   communication of smallpox

   communication of a secret

2. (uncountable) The concept or state of exchanging data or information between entities.

   Some say that communication is a necessary prerequisite for sentience; others say that it is a result thereof.

   The node had established communication with the network, but had as yet sent no data.

3. A message; the essential data transferred in an act of communication.

   Surveillance was accomplished by means of intercepting the spies' communications.

4. The body of all data transferred to one or both parties during an act of communication.

   The subpoena required that the company document their communication with the plaintiff.

5. An instance of information transfer; a conversation or discourse.

   The professors' communications consisted of lively discussions via email.

   • Shakespeare

     Argument […] and friendly communication.

6. A passageway or opening between two locations; connection.

   A round archway at the far end of the hallway provided communication to the main chamber.

   • Arbuthnot

     The Euxine Sea is conveniently situated for trade, by the communication it has both with Asia and Europe.

7. (anatomy) A connection between two tissues, organs, or cavities.
   • 1855, William Stokes, The Diseases of the Heart and the Aorta Page 617

     ...and here a free communication had been established between the aorta and the vena cava.

8. (obsolete) Association; company.
   • Bible, 1 Corinthians xv. 33

     Evil communications corrupt manners.

9. Participation in Holy Communion.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Pearson to this entry?)

10. (rhetoric) A trope by which a speaker assumes that his hearer is a partner in his sentiments, and says "we" instead of "I" or "you".

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Beattie to this entry?)

• anticommunication

• excommunication

• communication on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• "communication" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 72.

• communicaison

From Old French communicacion, borrowed from Latin commūnicātiō, commūnicātiōnem (“sharing, communication”).

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.my.ni.ka.sjɔ̃/

• audio

  (file)

communication f (plural communications)

1. communication

• communiquer

• “communication” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).