mixture

American  

[miks-cher] / ˈmɪks tʃər /

noun

• mixtures
  plural

1. 

   a product of mixing.

   Synonyms:

   compound, combination, blend

2. any combination or blend of different elements, kinds, qualities, etc..

   a mixture of good and bad traits.

   Synonyms:

   hodgepodge, potpourri, mélange, medley, jumble, miscellany, conglomeration

3. Chemistry, Physics. an aggregate of two or more substances that are not chemically united and that exist in no fixed proportion to each other.

4. a fabric woven of yarns combining various colors.

   a heather mixture.

5. the act of mixing or the state of being mixed.

6. an added element or ingredient; admixture.

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mixture British  

/ ˈmɪkstʃə /

noun

1. the act of mixing or state of being mixed

2. something mixed; a result of mixing

3. chem a substance consisting of two or more substances mixed together without any chemical bonding between them

4. pharmacol a liquid medicine in which an insoluble compound is suspended in the liquid

5. music an organ stop that controls several ranks of pipes sounding the upper notes in a harmonic series

6. the mixture of petrol vapour and air in an internal-combustion engine

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mixture Scientific  

/ mĭks′chər /

1. A composition of two or more substances that are not chemically combined with each other and are capable of being separated.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supermixture
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mixtures
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of mixture

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Latin mixtūra, from mixt(us) “mingled” (past participle of miscēre “to mingle”; see mixed) + -ūra -ure

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Explanation

A mixture is, simply, the product of mixing. Sometimes, like in the case of ice cream with fudge, a mixture can turn out delicious. At other times, though, like with oil and water, a mixture just fails to jive. A mixture is a concoction of several parts combined. In chemistry, it describes a composition made up of two or more substances that can be separated. When it comes to textiles, mixture describes fabric that consists of various yarn or materials. Note the difference between mix and mixture, though. Elements in a mix retain their unique parts even though they have been thrown together. In a mixture, elements are blended in such a way that they forfeit their individuality.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mixture mixtures

You can find packets of shio koji, a mixture that includes the key ingredient, online or at Asian markets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2026

The documents highlighted a "perfect explosive mixture", "serious risk to personnel" and a smell of gas so strong the authors claimed they could not stay in the area to complete their report.

From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2026

Each contains its own mixture of organic and inorganic materials, creating differences in composition, structure, and viscosity.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2026

Morris and McCoy share this mixture of professionalism, ability to read the room and adaptability, which is exactly what set work demands when things get unpredictable.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2026

Recognizing both science’s limitations and its strengths requires a peculiar mixture of scepticism and confidence; relativists overdo the scepticism and realists overdo the confidence.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

When he sent his proposed alloy mixtures to be created and tested at an MIT lab, both alloys burned up in a few hours, leading him to a lifelong skepticism of multiple regression analysis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Gold is traditionally recovered either by smelting at very high temperatures or by using corrosive acid mixtures that generate hazardous waste.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

Their measurements revealed interference patterns and regions of Wigner negativity -- clear signs that the states could not be described as ordinary classical mixtures.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 15, 2026

That said, sometimes off-target or incomplete editing happens with base editing, resulting in so-called “mosaics,” which are genetic mixtures of edited and unedited cells.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

Not one of the four ancient Ionian and alchemical “elements” is in the modern sense an element at all: one is a molecule, two are mixtures of molecules, and the last is a plasma.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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Related Words

• batter
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• concoction
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• variety

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