communication

noun

Simple meaning

The concept or state of exchanging data or information between entities.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kuhmyoonuhkayshuhn

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US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

kəmjunəˈkeɪʃən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

The activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information
“They could not act without official communication from Moscow.”
uncountable
The concept or state of exchanging data or information between entities.
A message; the essential data transferred in an act of communication.
The act or fact of communicating anything; transmission.
The body of all data transferred to one or both parties during an act of communication.
An instance of information transfer; a conversation or discourse.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency: Very Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

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More ways to use communication

“They could not act without official communication from Moscow.”noun
“How many lines of communication can there be among four people?”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Body / message

mass communication

Concept

communication system

Other combinations

verbal communicationpersonal communicationeffective communicationprivate communicationdirect communicationhuman communication

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

communicationsnounPlural form
The discipline that studies the principles of transmiting information and the methods by which it is delivered (as print or radio or television etc.).

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

communications intelligencenounCompound term
Technical and intelligence information derived from foreign communications by other than the intended recipients.
communications protocolnounCompound term
Rules determining the format and transmission of data.
communications satellitenounCompound term
An artificial satellite that relays signals back to earth.
communications security establishmentnounCompound term
Canadian agency that gathers communications intelligence and assist law enforcement and security agencies.
communications technologynounCompound term
The activity of designing and constructing and maintaining communication systems.
communication channelnounCompound term
A means of communication or access.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

communicativeadjectiveRelated term
Of or relating to communication.
intercommunication systemnounRelated term
A communication system linking different rooms within a building or ship etc.
telecommunication equipmentnounRelated term
A communication system for communicating at a distance.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.