syncretism

American  

[sing-kri-tiz-uhm, sin-] / ˈsɪŋ krɪˌtɪz əm, ˈsɪn- /

noun

1. the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.

2. Grammar. the merging, as by historical change in a language, of two or more categories in a specified environment into one, as, in nonstandard English, the use of was with both singular and plural subjects, while in standard English was is used with singular subjects (except for you in the second person singular) and were with plural subjects.

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syncretism British  

/ sɪŋˈkrɛtɪk, ˈsɪŋkrɪˌtɪzəm /

noun

1. the tendency to syncretize

2. the historical tendency of languages to reduce their use of inflection, as in the development of Old English with all its case endings into Modern English

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Other Word Forms

• syncretic adjective
• syncretical adjective
• syncretist noun
• syncretistic adjective

Etymology

Origin of syncretism

First recorded in 1610–20; from New Latin syncretismus, from Greek synkrētismós “union of Cretans,” i.e., a united front of two opposing parties against a common foe, derivative of synkrēt(ízein) “to form a confederation” ( syncretize ) + -ismos noun suffix ( -ism )

Example Sentences

Isidora is an example of ancient syncretism at work: a Greek woman, painted in a Roman tradition, whose burial followed Egyptian customs of mummification.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

His style on the piano carries the relaxed tension of a man for whom syncretism comes naturally, East and West, sun and sorrow.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2026

He said 94% of the parents he studied embraced “a disparate, irreconcilable collection of beliefs” he called syncretism.

From Washington Times • Sep. 6, 2023

Once Islam reached the savanna south of the Sahara, ruling African elites adopted it, and in some cases they blended it with their traditional beliefs, a process called syncretism.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

It belongs to an age of religious syncretism and materialistic philosophy; the mythological beings of popular belief are resolved into cosmological principles, and the mythological dress in which they appear has a theatrical effect.

From The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia by Sayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)