aggregate

[ adjective, noun ag-ri-git, -geyt; verb ag-ri-geyt ]
See synonyms for: aggregateaggregatedaggregatesaggregating on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. formed by the conjunction or collection of particulars into a whole mass or sum; total; combined: the aggregate amount of indebtedness.

  2. Botany.

    • (of a flower) formed of florets collected in a dense cluster but not cohering, as the daisy.

    • (of a fruit) composed of a cluster of carpels belonging to the same flower, as the raspberry.

  1. Geology. (of a rock) consisting of a mixture of minerals separable by mechanical means.

noun
  1. a sum, mass, or assemblage of particulars; a total or gross amount: the aggregate of all past experience.

  2. a cluster of soil particles: an aggregate larger than 250 micrometers in diameter, as the size of a small crumb, is technically regarded as a macroaggregate.

  1. any of various loose, particulate materials, as sand, gravel, or pebbles, added to a cementing agent to make concrete, plaster, etc.

  2. Mathematics. set (def. 92).

verb (used with object),ag·gre·gat·ed, ag·gre·gat·ing.
  1. to bring together; collect into one sum, mass, or body.

  2. to amount to (the number of): The guns captured will aggregate five or six hundred.

verb (used without object),ag·gre·gat·ed, ag·gre·gat·ing.
  1. to combine and form a collection or mass.

Idioms about aggregate

  1. in the aggregate, taken or considered as a whole: In the aggregate, our losses have been relatively small.

Origin of aggregate

1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin aggregātus (past participle of aggregāre ), equivalent to ag- ag- + greg- (stem of grex “flock”) + -ātus -ate1

word story For aggregate

All three parts of speech of aggregate (adjective, noun, verb) come directly from Latin aggregāt-, the stem of aggregātus, the past participle of aggregāre.
Aggregāre is a compound of ag-, a variant of the prefix ad- “to, toward,” and a derivative of the noun grex (inflectional stem greg- ) “flock, herd, band, troop, company”; aggregāre therefore means “to make (people) flock together, enter into association, join”—the association with grex “flock” is clear.
The Latin forms come from the Proto-Indo-European root ger-, gere- “to gather, collect,” which appears in Celtic, Germanic, Baltic, and Slavic. Probably the most important derivative of ger-, gere- for the history of Western culture is the Greek noun agorá “meeting, assembly, market, marketplace, trade, traffic,” especially the Agora in Athens, the chief marketplace and center of the city’s civic life.

Other words for aggregate

Other words from aggregate

  • ag·gre·ga·ble [ag-ri-guh-buhl], /ˈæg rɪ gə bəl/, adjective
  • ag·gre·gate·ly, adjective
  • ag·gre·gate·ness, noun
  • ag·gre·ga·to·ry [ag-ri-guh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee], /ˈæg rɪ gəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjective
  • hy·per·ag·gre·gate, verb, hy·per·ag·gre·gat·ed, hy·per·ag·gre·gat·ing.
  • re·ag·gre·gate, verb, re·ag·gre·gat·ed, re·ag·gre·gat·ing.
  • sub·ag·gre·gate, adjective, noun
  • sub·ag·gre·gate·ly, adverb
  • un·ag·gre·gat·ed, adjective

Words Nearby aggregate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use aggregate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for aggregate

aggregate

adjective(ˈæɡrɪɡɪt, -ˌɡeɪt)
  1. formed of separate units collected into a whole; collective; corporate

  2. (of fruits and flowers) composed of a dense cluster of carpels or florets

noun(ˈæɡrɪɡɪt, -ˌɡeɪt)
  1. a sum or assemblage of many separate units; sum total

  2. geology a rock, such as granite, consisting of a mixture of minerals

  1. the sand and stone mixed with cement and water to make concrete

  2. a group of closely related biotypes produced by apomixis, such as brambles, which are the Rubus fruticosus aggregate

  3. in the aggregate taken as a whole

verb(ˈæɡrɪˌɡeɪt)
  1. to combine or be combined into a body, etc

  2. (tr) to amount to (a number)

Origin of aggregate

1
C16: from Latin aggregāre to add to a flock or herd, attach (oneself) to, from grex flock

Derived forms of aggregate

  • aggregately, adverb
  • aggregative (ˈæɡrɪˌɡeɪtɪv), adjective

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