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I recently came across

This method combinates both previous methods.

Which seems to be the same as combines. I've never come across combinate before but this is apparently the definition.

Noun combinate (plural combinates) The result of a combining of two or more components.

2 Answers 2

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That's the definition as a noun. ( I mixed vinegar and baking soda. The resulting combinate was delicious! ) This is less common than combination, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it, especially in a scientific paper.

The sample sentence you provided uses it as a verb synonymous with combine. Dictionaries say that's grammatical, but it is very, very, very uncommon. (I have never heard it, and ngrams has vanishingly few examples.)

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  • I find it wild that I came across it in official documentation. Interesting...
    – MattCom
    Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 15:32
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    Combinate might be fine in a scientific paper in a field where it has a specific and known meaning, but probably should not be used in everyday conversation. Combination is more natural.
    – Andrew
    Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 15:51
  • @Andrew - Agreed.
    – Adam
    Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 16:06
  • I would never use combinate anywhere except in scientific writing. It's simply not used in everyday speech.
    – user428517
    Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 22:35
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According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary the word "combinate" is just a rare word for "combine". Its popularity is Bottom 30% of words.

Quote from The Oxford Reference Guide to English Morphology By Laurie Bauer, Rochelle Lieber, Ingo Plag:

There are quite a few forms of verbs that appear to be back-formations from nouns in -ation. COCA gives us examples:

  • administrate, allegate, combinate, commentate, commutate, ...

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