-cate

(This suffix has no etymological source; it is just a part of other words.)

abdicate (AB duh kayt") (verb), abdicates; abdicated; abdicating
1. To renounce formally, which is commonly done by a monarch of a throne; to vacate a throne, to relinquish, to abandon: Edward VIII of England abdicated the throne so he could marry a commoner whom he loved.

A king can abdicate, renounce, or swear away his kingly privileges and duties.

2. To refuse to accept an obligation or responsibility: When Sharon was told to revise her book, as instructed by her editor, she suddenly abdicated her contract with the publisher because she didn't agree with the new format.
3. To proclaim or declare to be no longer one's own, to disclaim, disown, cast off, especially to disown or disinherit children: Gary Brown abdicated his responsibilities as a husband and father and never returned to be with his wife and children again.
4. To give up a right, trust, office, or dignity; to leave, to lay down, to surrender, to abandon; at first implying voluntary renunciation, but now including the idea of abandonment by default: Governments, both national and local, seem to be abdicating their responsibilities to provide a good education for all of their citizens by greatly reducing the financial expenditures that are needed.

Tom abdicated his responsibilities as a salesman and left town to look for another place to live.
5. To leave one's position, office, or power: Yielding to the pressure of public opinion, the president of the country is abdicating his political authority.

The outraged citizens forced the talk-show host to abdicate his radio program.

6. Etymology: from Latin ab-, "away" + dicare, "to proclaim". When people abdicate their positions, they "proclaim away" their authorities.

To renounce or to abandon a position.
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abrogate, arrogate, derogate, delegate, delegate, delicate
abrogate (AB ruh gayt") (verb)
1. To abolish or to annul by authority; to nullify, to cancel: Henry associated himself with those who believe that Congress should abrogate the current tax law.
2. Not doing that which is required of a person or a group of people: The banking officials were accused of trying to abrogate their duties.
arrogate (AIR uh gayt") (verb)
1. To claim, to take, to appropriate, or to assume for oneself without right; as when a person will determine certain privileges for himself: Monroe did indeed arrogate to himself the powers of a general.

Some U.S. Presidents have decided to arrogate the power of congress to declare war.

2. To assign or to attribute to another person without justification: Neil accused the woman next door of wanting to arrogate to herself the power to punish people.
derogate (DER uh gayt") (verb)
1. To take away or to detract: Senator Johnson was warned that such a statement will derogate his reputation.
2. To say or to suggest that someone, or something, is not worthy of respect or is not important: There were times when the man's wife would derogate him for not achieving better pay from his company.
delegate (DEL i git) (noun)
Someone who is authorized or sent to speak and act for others; representative, as at a convention: Every state will send a delegate to the convention.
delegate (DEL i gayt") (verb)
To entrust (authority, power, etc.) to a person acting as one's agent or representative; entrust, assign, give over, charge, commit to the care of: Cheryl wants to delegate her power of attorney to her nephew.

A delegate is someone who is sent with authority to represent another or others; to delegate work or authority is to transfer or to send it to another person.

delicate (DEL i kit) (adjective)
1. Pleasing in its lightness, mildness, subtlety, etc. (a delicate flavor, odor, color, etc.); fine, dainty, exquisite, elegant: Queen Anne wore a long gown of delicate silk.
2. Easily damaged, spoiled, fragile, frail, perishable; dainty: The plate was so delicate that Sarah was afraid to wash it for fear of breaking it.
3. Frail, feeble, debilitated, weakened; infirm, unwell, sickly, ailing: Marie and Jamie were concerned about their little girl's delicate condition.
4. Palatable, savory, delicious, appetizing, luscious: Debra, the hostess, presented a tray of delicate food to her guests.
5. Soft, muted, subdued: Ted and Cheryl had the walls of their apartment painted with a delicate blue color.
6. Exquisite, minute, detailed: Clyde and Donna admired the delicate workmanship on the bronze doors.
7. Tactful, tasteful, diplomatic, careful, sensitive, refined: Jessie Brown, the public relations manager, handled the situation in a delicate manner.

The female senator decided to leave her senatorial seat after she abrogated a decision that would arrogate her right to become a delegate of a congressional committee when a political opponent felt the need to derogate her because of her delicate physical condition.

adjudicate (uh JOO di kayt") (verb), adjudicates; adjudicated; adjudicating
1. In law, to hear, to settle, and to decide a legal case or to reach a judicial conclusion about something: After hearing both sides of the divorce case involving the children, the judge adjudicated the matter and gave the mother full custody of her offspring.
2. To make an official judgement about a problem or a dispute in a law case: The two families were constantly arguing about the fence along their property lines causing them to go to court. The judge adjudicated the conflict and ordered the fence to be taken down.
3. Etymology: from Latin ad-, "to" + judicare, "to judge".
advocate (s) (AD vuh kit") (noun), advocates (pl)
1. Someone who argues for a cause: Shirley has been a supporter, a defender, and an advocate of civil rights for many years and her husband has also been a tireless advocate of social reform.
2. People who plead in behalf or others or who are intercessors: Tina's parents have been advocates for abused children and spouses in a variety of media and social movements.
3. An individual with legal training who supports or intercedes for other people: The advocate who Jane hired to plead her case in the traffic court was successful and so she didn't have to pay a large fine.
advocate (AD vuh kayt") (verb), advocates; advocated; advocating
To urge, to suggest, or to exhort in support of someone or something: In court during the weekend, Karl's friend advocated for a former student who had been sleeping in the park.
To support or to publicly recommend.
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To speak in favor of a cause.
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To publicly agree with a statement.
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To strongly speak and recommend an issue or cause.
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aglyphicate
To avoid or to put off a writing assignment until the very last possible moment.
allocate (AL uh kayt") (verb), allocates; allocated; allocating
1. To set aside something for a reason or a purpose: The principal of the school allocated two teachers and three students to plan the end-of-school activities.
2. To distribute something according to a plan: The government agency announced a plan to allocate millions of dollars to purchase food supplies and medications for the storm-hit community.
To assign or to apportion.
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altercate (AL tuhr kayt") (verb), altercates; altercated; altercating
1. To conduct a heated argument; to argue intensely: Julia's two daughters altercated about who would sit in the front seat of the car on their way to go shopping with their mother, who decided to have both girls sit in the back!
2. Disagreeing about something: Greg’s parents were altercating about when it would be best to go on vacation, before or after Christmas.
To dispute or argue with anger.
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auspicate (AW spi kayt") (verb), auspicates; auspicated; auspicating
1. To begin or to inaugurate with a ceremony intended to bring good luck: Mr. and Mrs. Smith auspicated their 50th wedding anniversary with champagne before dinner, hoping that the years to follow would bring as much pleasure as the first 50 years.
2. To give a favorable turn when starting something; to inaugurate in a sense derived from the historical practice of observing birds in flight, before undertaking an important decision or action: The leaders of Rome usually auspicated their public activities before proceeding with them.
authenticate (aw THEN ti kayt") (verb), authenticates; authenticated; authenticating
1. To verify or to prove one’s identity: Before Jane could check her e-mails, she first had to authenticate her e-mail address and password.

Before he could pick up his package at the post office, Jeffery had to authenticate that he was the authorized person by showing his driver’s license.

2. To prove something to be genuine; especially, some artistic piece of work: The insurance company wanted Linda to have her violin's condition authenticated by a violin expert so it could be insured in case of theft, fire, etc.
bifurcate (BIGH fuhr kayt") (verb), bifurcates; bifurcated; bifurcating
1. To divide or to branch into two directions: Blood vessels and nerves are two examples of body parts that bifurcate.
2. To split or to separate into two parts or directions: As Jane was driving through the forest, the road she was driving on suddenly bifurcated and she noticed that if she were to go to the right, it would take her up the hill; however, if she were to turn to the left, she would be going down the hill
An example of a symbol that illustrates bifurcate.

This particular illustration from Google images provides an example of bifurcating a symbol on a sign so it shows drivers on a highway that the road will be splitting into two directions.

claudicate
To limp or to halt; that is, to interrupt or to temporarily suspend a progression or movement.
collocate (KOHL uh kit") (s) (noun), collocates (pl)
The arrangement together so as to form words into a phrase: Some collocates are regular occurrences of lexical or dictionary terms that are connected close to each other; such as, "commit a crime" which helps a reader to see how a word is used and what it means.

collocate (KOHL uh kayt") (verb), collocates; collocated; collocating
1. A strong tendency to take place side by side with a frequency better than mere chance: A few words that collocate with each other include the following examples; "maiden" collocates with "voyage" or "maiden voyage"; "mortgage" collocates with "property".
2. To put words in a certain order or to arrange words naturally together : The word "college" collocates with "student" or "college student"; "quick" collocates with "temper"; however, "fast" does not collocate with "temper".
communicate (kuh MYOO ni kayt") (verb), communicates; communicated; communicating
1. To give or to interchange thoughts, feelings, information, or the like, by writing, speaking, etc.: Please plan to communicate with Sam via his cellphone while he is on his holidays.
2. To express thoughts, feelings, or information easily or effectively: The doctor was able to communicate the significant medical information to his patient.