What does corrugate mean?
To corrugate is to shape something into a series of parallel ridges and grooves — in effect, to pleat it on an industrial scale. The word applies most familiarly to materials such as iron, steel, and cardboard, where the ridged profile dramatically increases stiffness and strength without adding weight, which is why corrugated iron roofs and corrugated cardboard boxes are ubiquitous around the world. The verb can also be used figuratively or anatomically: a brow may corrugate when someone frowns, since the muscle responsible is literally called the corrugator. Derived from the Latin corrugare, formed from com- ('together') and ruga ('a wrinkle'), the term entered English in the early seventeenth century. In modern usage, people far more often meet its adjectival form, 'corrugated,' than the bare verb itself.
verbTo shape or draw into parallel grooves and ridges; to wrinkle or fold into alternating ridges, typically of sheet metal, cardboard, or a surface.
- (transitive) To shape a material, especially sheet metal or paper, into parallel ridges and grooves for added strength.
- (intransitive/figurative) To become wrinkled or furrowed, especially of skin such as the forehead.
"The factory corrugates thin sheets of iron to give the roofing extra strength."
"The builders chose corrugated iron because its ridged profile makes it far stiffer than flat sheeting."
"His forehead would corrugate with concern whenever the quarterly figures came in."
Every time you grip a pizza box, you're holding an engineering trick borrowed straight from the human brow — 'corrugate' comes from the Latin for 'wrinkle.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of corrugate
Corrugate derives from the Latin corrugare, meaning 'to wrinkle together,' a compound of com- ('with, together') and ruga ('a wrinkle or fold'). It entered English in the early seventeenth century, initially used of wrinkles in skin and fabric before extending to industrial materials. It shares the Latin root ruga with words such as rugose ('wrinkled') and the anatomical term rugae, and it has yielded the derivatives corrugated, corrugation, and corrugator.
Related word forms
How corrugate is actually used
Most often encountered in everyday English through the adjective 'corrugated' rather than the bare verb. The transitive sense is standard in technical and industrial contexts; the figurative intransitive use, applied to wrinkled skin or brows, is comparatively rare and somewhat formal or literary.
Easily confused with corrugate
To corroborate means to confirm or support a statement with evidence, whereas to corrugate means to form into ridges and grooves.