🔊 Listen to the word Amalgamate

uh-MAL-guh-mayt

Definition

(verb) To combine or unite to form one organization or substance; to merge distinct elements into a single unified whole.

Example

The two firms amalgamated after eighteen months of negotiation — emerging as something that satisfied no one completely and was better than either alternative.

Word Origin

Amalgamate derives from amalgam, itself from the Medieval Latin amalgama — possibly from the Arabic al-malgham, meaning “an emollient poultice,” or from the Greek malagma, meaning “softening.” An amalgam was originally a mixture of mercury with another metal, used extensively in early metallurgy and dentistry. The verb amalgamate entered English in the 17th century, first describing the literal blending of metals before expanding into its broader sense of any union of distinct elements into a new whole.