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contribute

verb

Simple meaning

To give something that is or becomes part of a larger whole.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kuhntribyoot

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

kəntˈɹɪbjut

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.

verb

  1. ambitransitive

    To give something that is or becomes part of a larger whole.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (ambitransitive) To give something that is or becomes part of a larger whole.

Used this way, contribute is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

contribute significantlycontribute greatlycontribute directlythus contributecontribute nothingcontribute substantially

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • contributornounPerson or profession

    Someone who contributes (or promises to contribute) a sum of money.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • contributionnounRelated term

    The effort contributed by a person in bringing about a result.

  • contributory negligencenounRelated term

    Behavior by the plaintiff that contributes to the harm resulting from the defendant's negligence.

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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.