collidate

Collidate is an English verb meaning to come into collision or to strike together. It is highly uncommon in contemporary usage; the standard verb is collide. When collidate does appear, it is typically in older texts, specialized writing, or discussions of historical language use, and many dictionaries classify it as obsolete or a rare variant.

Etymology and form: Collidate is generally linked to the Latin collidere, meaning “to strike together.” The English form with the suffix -ate is unusual for such a root, and some lexicographers treat collidate as a historical variant or a mistaken formation rather than a distinct, productive verb.

Usage: In modern English, collidate is usually avoided in favor of collide. If collidate is encountered, it should be interpreted as synonymous with collide, though most editors would flag it as archaic or erroneous. The expected contemporary conjugations would be collidates, colliding, and collidated, but these forms are exceedingly rare in current writing.

Examples: An older text might read “the two bodies collidated” to mean they collided; in contemporary prose one would normally write “the two bodies collided.” It is important not to confuse collidate with similarly spelled terms such as collide, collision, or colloid, which have distinct meanings.

See also: collision, collide.