aggregation

American  

[ag-ri-gey-shuhn] / ˌæg rɪˈgeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. a group or mass of distinct or varied things, persons, etc..

   an aggregation of complainants.

2. collection into an unorganized whole.

3. the state of being so collected.

4. Biology, Ecology. a group of organisms of the same or different species living closely together but less integrated than a society.

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aggregation British  

/ ˌæɡrɪˈɡeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of aggregating

2. ecology dispersion in which the individuals of a species are closer together than if they were randomly dispersed

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Other Word Forms

• aggregational adjective
• reaggregation noun
• subaggregation noun

Etymology

Origin of aggregation

First recorded in 1540–50; from Medieval Latin aggregātiōn-, stem of aggregātiō “a flocking together, gathering”; aggregate, -ion

Explanation

An aggregation is a collection, or the gathering of things together. Your baseball card collection might represent the aggregation of lots of different types of cards. Aggregation comes from the Latin ad, meaning to, and gregare, meaning herd. So the word was first used to literally mean to herd or to flock. Now it's just refers to anything herded together in a collection or assemblage. If you work in a lab, for example, you may be charged with the aggregation of samples prior to experimentation.

Example Sentences

"Many potential Alzheimer's treatments fail due to an incomplete understanding of how amyloid-beta protein aggregation occurs," she said.

From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026

History as we experience it at the sharp end is the aggregation of moral choices made by individual human beings.

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2026

Spreads for an aggregation of 10 year investment grade U.S. bonds have risen to 0.86% from a 2026 low of 0.73% in late January, according to St. Louis Fed data.

From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026

So far, The Bone Temple has received positive reviews, achieving 94% on film reviews aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

From BBC • Jan. 16, 2026

It is in the abrupt, unaccountable aggregation of random notions, intuitions, known in science as good ideas, that the high points are made.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas