Origin: Latin suffix -ate
Integrate has 5 different meanings across 1 category:
make into a whole or make part of a whole
"She incorporated his suggestions into her proposal"
open (a place) to members of all races and ethnic groups
"This school is completely desegregated"
become one; become integrated
"The students at this school integrate immediately, despite their different backgrounds"
calculate the integral of; calculate by integration
"The professor asked us to integrate the function f(x) = x squared over the interval from zero to one."
To form into one whole; to make entire; to complete; to renew; to restore; to perfect.
"The community worked tirelessly to integrate the broken bridge back into the landscape, making the path feel whole and restored once more."
In plain English: To integrate means to bring something new into an existing group so that it becomes part of the whole.
"The new employee will integrate into our team next week by attending all morning meetings and joining lunch groups."
Usage: Use integrate when combining separate parts or groups into a unified, functioning whole rather than simply adding them together. This verb is often confused with incorporate, but it specifically emphasizes the result of becoming one seamless entity.
The word "integrate" entered English in the 1450s as an adjective meaning "intact or whole," derived from the Latin integrātus, which means "made whole." It was later adopted as a verb in 1638, retaining its core sense of being complete or renewed.