iungere

iungere is a classical Latin verb meaning to join, unite, or connect. It covers both physical joining—the act of attaching or linking two things—and more abstract senses such as joining ideas, forming a union, or yoking an animal. The word emphasizes bringing separate elements into a single unit or relationship.

Morphology and principal parts: iungere is a third-conjugation verb. Its principal parts are iungō, iungere, iunxī, iunctum. The infinitive is iungere; the present active indicative forms include iungō, iungis, iungit, iungimus, iungitis, iungunt. The perfect tense is built from iunxī, with the participle iunctus used in compound constructions. As a transitive verb, iungere commonly governs a direct object in the accusative when specifying what is being joined.

Usage: In Latin, iungere appears in both literal and figurative contexts. It can denote joining physical pieces, attaching components, or bringing together people, ideas, or entities. It also appears in religious, legal, or literary prose to express the notion of forming a connection or alliance. Compound forms and prefixed derivatives such as coniungere or conjugation-related terms extend its semantic field, reflecting the central idea of bringing parts into a unit.

Etymology and cognates: iungere is the source of several Romance-language reflexes. Notable cognates include French joindre and Italian giungere, which reflect the same core concept of joining or linking, albeit with some semantic shift in certain Romance languages over time.

See also: iunctus, iungo, conjungo, unio, union.