amalgamation

[uh-mal-guh-mey-shuh n]

See more synonyms for amalgamation on Thesaurus.com

noun

the act or process of amalgamating.
the state or result of being amalgamated.
Commerce. a consolidation of two or more corporations.

Metallurgy. the extraction of precious metals from their ores by treatment with mercury.

Origin of amalgamation

First recorded in 1605–15; amalgam + -ation

Related formspre·a·mal·ga·ma·tion, nounre·a·mal·ga·ma·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for amalgamation

amalgam, commixture, combination, mix, merger, consolidation, fusion, admixture, blend, union, intermixture

Examples from the Web for amalgamation

Contemporary Examples of amalgamation

These were sort of sober witnesses to the madness, so it was an amalgamation of thoughts of different women from the time.
Kate Bosworth Is Back and Crazy in Love
Erin Cunningham
November 5, 2013
Each model is an amalgamation of many different women; eyes from one, lips from another.
Mary Katrantzou and Garjan Atwood, in O Sense
Lisa Larson-Walker
January 19, 2013
The Gore Vidal character is an amalgamation of Gore Vidal and Edmund White.
On Stage as Gore Vidal
Nicholas Wapshott
January 11, 2009

Historical Examples of amalgamation

It was a fit moment for amalgamation, and this was accomplished in 1856 by Mr. Hiram Sibley.
Heroes of the Telegraph
J. Munro
Nor will modern languages be easily broken up by amalgamation with each other.
Cratylus
Plato
The company was formed by an amalgamation of Oxford's and Worcester's Men in 1602.
Shakespearean Playhouses
Joseph Quincy Adams
This is reflected in the terms of amalgamation with the Great Western Company.
The Story of the Cambrian
C. P. Gasquoine
What was the result of the amalgamation will form the subject of the next chapter.
Chaldea
Znade A. Ragozin

British Dictionary definitions for amalgamation

amalgamation

noun

the action or process of amalgamating
the state of being amalgamated
a method of extracting precious metals from their ores by treatment with mercury to form an amalgam
commerce another word for merger (def. 1)

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 amalgamation

1610s, noun of action from archaic amalgam (v.) "to alloy with mercury" (see amalgamate). Figurative, non-chemical sense of "a combining into one uniform whole" is attested from 1775.