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amalgamate

[uh-mal-guh-meyt]
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verb (used with object), a·mal·ga·mat·ed, a·mal·ga·mat·ing.
  1. to mix or merge so as to make a combination; blend; unite; combine: to amalgamate two companies.
  2. Metallurgy. to mix or alloy (a metal) with mercury.
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verb (used without object), a·mal·ga·mat·ed, a·mal·ga·mat·ing.
  1. to combine, unite, merge, or coalesce: The three schools decided to amalgamate.
  2. to blend with another metal, as mercury.
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Origin of amalgamate

1635–45 amalgam + -ate1
Related formsa·mal·ga·ma·ble, adjectivea·mal·ga·ma·tive, adjectivea·mal·ga·ma·tor, nounre·a·mal·ga·mate, verb, re·at·ed, re·at·ing.un·a·mal·ga·ma·ble, adjectiveun·a·mal·ga·mat·ed, adjectiveun·a·mal·ga·mat·ing, adjectiveun·a·mal·ga·ma·tive, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for amalgamate

Historical Examples

  • They seemed very shy of each other, and did not amalgamate at all.

    Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 14, July 2, 1870

    Various

  • Mercury does not amalgamate with copper so readily as with gold or silver.

  • But if you amalgamate your business with that of Captain Danvers's company, you will make 25,000.

  • The law cannot possibly lower its standard, nor yet amalgamate with grace.

    Notes on the book of Exodus

    C. H. (Charles Henry) Mackintosh

  • These sometimes fail to amalgamate, and so the artistic precipitation is cloudy.

    Iconoclasts

    James Huneker

British Dictionary definitions for amalgamate

amalgamate

verb
  1. to combine or cause to combine; unite
  2. to alloy (a metal) with mercury
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for amalgamate

v.

1650s, back-formation from amalgamation, or from adjective amalgamate (1640s) from amalgam. Originally in metallurgy; figurative sense of "to unite" (races, etc.) is attested from 1802. Related: Amalgamated; amalgamating. Earlier verb was amalgamen (1540s).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper