collimate
UK/ˈkɒlɪmeɪt/
collimate verb: to focus into a narrow beam or column; to adjust a focusing device so that it produces a narrow beam.
Verb
collimate (third-person singular simple present collimates, present participle collimating, simple past and past participle collimated)
- To focus into a narrow beam or column; to adjust a focusing device so that it produces a narrow beam.
- Lead bricks were placed around the radioactive source so that the escaping gamma rays would be limited to a collimated beam rather than filling the lab.
- I need to collimate my telescope so that the images are clearer.
Forms of collimate
| third-person singular present | collimates |
|---|---|
| present participle | collimating |
| past participle | collimated |
| past | collimated |
Origin of collimate
First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin collimātus, perfect passive participle of collīmō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), itself originating from a misreading of collīniō, collīneō.
Words formed from collimate
Questions about collimate
- What does collimate mean?
- Collimate means to focus into a narrow beam or column; to adjust a focusing device so that it produces a narrow beam.
- What part of speech is collimate?
- Collimate is a verb.
- How do you pronounce collimate?
- Collimate is pronounced /ˈkɒlɪmeɪt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of collimate?
- The past tense of collimate is collimated.
Words near collimate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: collimate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Neøn-collimate.wav.
Cite this entry: “collimate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/collimate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.