articulation

Etymology

From Middle English articulacioun, from Old French articulacion, from Medieval Latin articulatio. Equivalent to articulate + -ion.

noun

1. (countable or uncountable) A joint or the collection of joints at which something is articulated, or hinged, for bending.
   The articulation allowed the robot to move around corners.
2. (countable) A manner or method by which elements of a system are connected.
   In this paper, we make a step forward, by considering term to query articulations, that is articulations relating queries of one source to terms in another 2004, R. Meersman, On the move to meaningful internet systems 2004, page 945
3. (uncountable) The quality, clarity or sharpness of speech.
   His volume is reasonable, but his articulation could use work.
4. (linguistics) The manner in which a phoneme is pronounced.
5. (music, uncountable) The manner in which something is articulated (tongued, slurred or bowed).
   The articulation in this piece is tricky because it alternates between legato and staccato.
6. (accounting) The interrelation and congruence of the flow of data between financial statements of an entity, especially between the income statement and balance sheet.
   At the time the outstanding distinction that could be seen between Copeland-Fed on the one hand and Goldsmith-Friend on the other was that the flow-of-funds system explicitly included nonfinancial transactions in the statistical structure in direct articulation with financial flows and stocks. 1991, Stephen P. Taylor, “From Moneyflows Accounts to Flow-of-Funds Accounts”, printed in John C. Dawson (editor), Flow-of-Funds Analysis: A Handbook for Practitioners, M.E. Sharpe (1996), page 103
   Particular income statement accounts (revenues and expenses) are linked to particular balance sheet accounts (assets and liabilities); that is, there is articulation between the income statement and the balance sheet. 2005, David T. Collins, “Accounting and Financial Reporting Issues”, Chapter 6 of Robert L. Brown and Alan S. Gutterman (editors), Emerging Companies Guide: A Resource for Professionals and Entrepreneurs, American Bar Association, page 169
   The emphasis on articulated information about environmental liabilities in the management accounts is not stressed. Articulation between stock and flow information in physical environment terms receives less attention. 2005, Roger L. Burritt, “Challenges for Environmental Management Accounting”, Chapter 2 of Pall M. Rikhardsson et al. (editors), Implementing Environmental Management Accounting: Status and Challenges, Springer, page 28
7. (education) The induction of a pupil into a new school or college.
   The latter reason ranked first in Item 1 as the reason for liking high school this year, giving emphasis to the fact that differences in the new school level may be either a factor of articulation, depending somewhat on how well informed the student is about his new level. 1949, Wilfred Mason Landrus, Articulation Between the Elementary and Secondary School Levels, page 47
   A survey of college provisions for high school-college articulation cannot alone serve to describe the total effort that is being made or should be made in this direction. 1950, Committee on High School-College Relationships, High School-college Curriculum Articulation in Minnesota, page 18