What does "participate" mean?

1. (to take part in) to join in an activity or event with others.

How do you use "participate"?

Always used with the preposition 'in' when followed by an object.

Is it correct to say "She participated the meeting yesterday."?

No — say "She participated in the meeting yesterday.". You must use the preposition 'in' after participate when mentioning the activity.

participate

US //pɑɹˈtɪsəˌpeɪt// UK //pɑːtˈɪsɪpˌeɪt// par·tic·i·pate

1 to take part in (v.)
B1 Intermediate Academic General-service

to join in an activity or event with others.

to take part in an activity, event, or collective effort. This is an intransitive verb that almost always takes the preposition 'in'.

Example

Everyone in the class was encouraged to participate in the discussion.

Example

The researchers invited local residents to participate in the study by completing a detailed questionnaire about their daily habits.

Usage

Always used with the preposition 'in' when followed by an object.

Teacher's tip

Learners often confuse this with 'attend'. Remind them that 'attend' means just being there, while 'participate' means being active.
- join in
- take part
- engage
Pitfall

She participated the meeting yesterday.

She participated in the meeting yesterday.

You must use the preposition 'in' after participate when mentioning the activity.

Origin

Borrowed from Latin participātus, the perfect passive participle of participō (“to take part in, share in, give part in, impart”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from particeps (“taking part (in), sharing (in); someone who takes part (in)”, particip- in compounds), from pars (“part”, part- in compounds) + -ceps (“which takes, taker”), literally “(someone) who takes part”; see part and capable. Compare Old English dǣlniman (“to participate”), an earlier calque of the same Latin verb.