fusion

[ fyoo-zhuhn ]
See synonyms for fusion on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the act or process of fusing; the state of being fused.

  2. that which is fused; the result of fusing: A ballet production is the fusion of many talents.

  1. Politics.

    • a coalition of parties or factions.

    • (initial capital letter) the political party resulting from such a coalition.

  2. Also called nu·cle·ar fu·sion [noo-klee-er fyoo-zhuhn] /ˈnu kli ər ˈfyu ʒən/ .Physics. a thermonuclear reaction in which nuclei of light atoms join to form nuclei of heavier atoms, as the combination of deuterium atoms to form helium atoms.: Compare fission (def. 2).

  3. Ophthalmology

    • Also called bin·oc·u·lar fu·sion [buh-nok-yuh-ler fyoo-zhuhn]. /bəˈnɒk yə lər ˈfyu ʒən/. the correct blending of the images of both eyes.

    • the perception of rapid, intermittent flashes of light as a continuous beam.

  4. popular music that is a blend of two styles, especially a combining of jazz with either rock, classical music, or such ethnic elements as Brazilian or Japanese music.

  5. Linguistics. the merging of linguistic elements, especially morphemes, usually accompanied by a change in the form of the elements.

adjective
  1. (of food or cooking) combining usually widely differing ethnic or regional ingredients, styles, or techniques: a restaurant serving French-Thai fusion cuisine; a fusion menu.

Origin of fusion

1
First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin fūsiōn- (stem of fūsiō ) “a pouring out, melting”; see fuse2, -ion;def. 4 was first recorded in 1945–50

Other words from fusion

  • fu·sion·al, adjective
  • non·fu·sion, noun

Words that may be confused with fusion

Words Nearby fusion

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

How to use fusion in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for fusion

fusion

/ (ˈfjuːʒən) /


noun
  1. the act or process of fusing or melting together; union

  2. the state of being fused

  1. something produced by fusing

  2. the merging of juxtaposed speech sounds, morphemes, or words

  3. a coalition of political parties or other groups, esp to support common candidates at an election

  4. a kind of popular music that is a blend of two or more styles, such as jazz and funk

  5. psychol the processing by the mind of elements falling on the two eyes so that they yield a single percept

  6. (modifier) relating to a style of cooking which combines traditional Western techniques and ingredients with those used in Eastern cuisine: fusion cuisine; fusion food

Origin of fusion

1
C16: from Latin fūsiō a pouring out, melting, casting, from fundere to pour out, found ³

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

Scientific definitions for fusion

fusion

[ fyōōzhən ]


  1. The joining together of atomic nuclei, especially hydrogen or other light nuclei, to form a heavier nucleus, especially a helium nucleus. Fusion occurs when plasmas are heated to extremely high temperatures, forcing the nuclei to collide at great speed. The resulting unstable nucleus emits one or more neutrons at very high speeds, releasing more energy than was required to fuse the nuclei, thereby making chain-reactions possible, since the reaction is exothermic. Fusion reactions are the source of the energy in the Sun and in other stars, and in hydrogen bombs. See also fission.

  2. A mixture or blend formed by fusing two or more things.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.