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Participate vs Engage - What's the difference?

participate | engage |

In intransitive terms the difference between participate and engage

is that participate is to join in, to take part, to involve oneself ({{term|in}} something) while engage is to enter into (an activity), to participate (construed with {{term|in|lang=en}}).

In obsolete transitive terms the difference between participate and engage

is that participate is to share, share in (something) while engage is to pledge, pawn (one's property); to put (something) at risk or on the line; to mortgage (houses, land).

As an adjective participate

is acting in common; participating.

participate

English

Verb

(participat)
  • To join in, to take part, to involve oneself ((in) something).
  • (obsolete) To share, share in (something).
  • * 1638 , , Some Yeares Travels , I:
  • they seldome feed together, lest they might participate one anothers impurity: each has his owne cup [...].
  • (obsolete) To share (something) (with) others; to transfer (something) (to) or (unto) others.
  • * 1662 , Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World , II:
  • Make the Earth [...] turn round its own axis in twenty four hours, and towards the same point with all the other Spheres; and without participating this same motion to any other Planet or Star.

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (obsolete) Acting in common; participating.
  • * 1608 , , I. i. 101:
  • And, mutually participate , did minister / Unto the appetite and affection common / Of the whole body.

    engage

    English

    (wikipedia engage)

    Alternative forms

    * ingage (obsolete)

    Verb

    (engag)
  • To interact socially.
  • #To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied.
  • #*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • #*:Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage .
  • #To draw into conversation.
  • #*(Nathaniel Hawthorne) (1804-1864)
  • #*:the difficult task of engaging him in conversation
  • #To attract, to please; (archaic) to fascinate or win over (someone).
  • #*(Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • #*:Good nature engages everybody to him.
  • (lb) To interact antagonistically.
  • #(lb) To enter into conflict with (an enemy).
  • #*(Fitz Hugh Ludlow) (1836-1870)
  • #*:a favourable opportunity of engaging the enemy
  • #(lb) To enter into battle.
  • (lb) To interact contractually.
  • #(lb) To arrange to employ or use (a worker, a space, etc.).
  • #*{{quote-book, year=1905, author=
  • , title= , chapter=2 citation , passage=For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged , and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks.}}
  • #(lb) To guarantee or promise (to do something).
  • #(lb) To bind through legal or moral obligation (to do something, especially to marry) (usually in passive).
  • #:
  • # To pledge, pawn (one's property); to put (something) at risk or on the line; to mortgage (houses, land).
  • #* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.vii:
  • Thou that doest liue in later times, must wage / Thy workes for wealth, and life for gold engage .
  • (lb) To interact mechanically.
  • #To mesh or interlock (of machinery, especially a clutch).
  • #:
  • # To come into gear with.
  • The teeth of one cogwheel engage those of another.
  • (label) To enter into (an activity), to participate (construed with in).
  • *
  • *:“[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?”
  • Antonyms

    * (to cause to mesh or interlock) disengage

    Derived terms

    * engagement * disengage * disengagement ----