amalgam

amalgam

See also: Amalgam and amalgám

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin amalgama (“mercury alloy”), from Arabic اَلْمَلْغَم‎ (al-malḡam, “emollient poultice or unguent for sores”), from Ancient Greek μάλαγμα (málagma, “emollient; malleable material”), from μαλάσσω (malássō, “to soften”), from μαλακός (malakós, “soft”). Doublet of malagma. For the verb, compare French amalgamer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈmæl.ɡəm/
• Hyphenation: a‧mal‧gam

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

amalgam (countable and uncountable, plural amalgams)

1. (metallurgy) An alloy containing mercury.
2. A combination of different things.
   • 1960 March, J. P. Wilson & E. N. C. Haywood, “The route through the Peak - Derby to Manchester: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 149:

     This was the Ambergate, Nottingham & Boston & Eastern Junction Railway, an amalgam of a number of separate schemes put forward in 1845, which secured its Act on July 16, 1846.

3. One of the ingredients in an alloy.

Synonyms

• alloy, blend, combo, compound, conglomerate, mixture

Derived terms

• amalgam carrier
• amalgam tattoo
• gold amalgam
• sodium amalgam

 

Related terms

• amalgamate
• amalgamation

Translations

alloy

Catalan: amalgama (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: (please verify) 汞齐 (zh) (gǒngjì) Czech: amalgám (cs) m Danish: amalgam (da) n Dutch: amalgaam (nl) n Finnish: amalgaami (fi) German: Amalgam (de) n Greek: αμάλγαμα (el) n (amálgama) Hungarian: amalgám (hu), ötvözet (hu), keverék (hu), öntvény (hu) Indonesian: amalgam (id) Italian: amalgama (it) m Malay: amalgam Manx: co-lheian m Persian: ملغمه‎ (fa) (malğame) Polish: amalgamat (pl) m, ortęć (pl) f Portuguese: amálgama (pt) m or f Romanian: amalgam (ro) n Russian: амальга́ма (ru) f (amalʹgáma) Spanish: amalgama (es) f Swedish: amalgam (sv) n Turkish: amalgam (tr), malgama (tr) Vietnamese: hỗn hống (vi)

combination

Catalan: amalgama (ca) f Finnish: amalgaami (fi) French: amalgame (fr) m Greek: αμάλγαμα (el) n (amálgama), κράμα (el) n (kráma), σύμφυρμα (el) n (sýmfyrma) Manx: co-lheian m Persian: ملغمه‎ (fa) (malğame) Polish: amalgamat (pl) m, amalgam (pl) m Portuguese: amálgama (pt) m or f Romanian: amestecătură (ro) f Russian: амальга́ма (ru) f (amalʹgáma) Spanish: amalgama (es) f

Verb

amalgam (third-person singular simple present amalgams, present participle amalgaming, simple past and past participle amalgamed)

1. (archaic, transitive, intransitive) To amalgamate.
   • a. 1691, Robert Boyle, An Essay on the Porousness of Solid Bodies

     I had once occasion to distill in a small retort some gold amalgamed with such a fine and subtile mercur

   • 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, OCLC 1008120557; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire: The Scolar Press, 1970, OCLC 52009618, (please specify the page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     gold t'amalgam with some six of mercury

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “amalgam”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• David Barthelmy (1997–2023), “Amalgam”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “amalgam”, in Mindat.org‎, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2023.
• “amalgam”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• malagma

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Icelandic

Noun

amalgam n (genitive singular amalgams, no plural)

1. amalgam

Declension

declension of amalgam

n-s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	amalgam	amalgamið
accusative	amalgam	amalgamið
dative	amalgami	amalgaminu
genitive	amalgams	amalgamsins

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Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch amalgaam, from French amalgame, from Latin amalgama, from Medieval Latin amalgama (“mercury alloy”), from Arabic اَلْمَلْغَم‎ (al-malḡam, “emollient poultice or unguent for sores”), from Ancient Greek μάλαγμα (málagma, “emollient; malleable material”), from μαλάσσω (malássō, “to soften”), from μαλακός (malakós, “soft”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈamalɡam]
• Hyphenation: amal‧gam

Noun

amalgam (first-person possessive amalgamku, second-person possessive amalgammu, third-person possessive amalgamnya)

1. amalgam: an alloy containing mercury.

Derived terms

• pengamalgam
• pengamalgaman

 

Further reading

• “amalgam” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

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Malay

Noun

amalgam (Jawi spelling املݢم‎, plural amalgam-amalgam, informal 1st possessive amalgamku, 2nd possessive amalgammu, 3rd possessive amalgamnya)

1. (metallurgy) amalgam

Further reading

• “amalgam” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

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Polish

Alternative forms

• amalgama (obsolete)

Etymology

Internationalism; compare English amalgam. Possibly borrowed from German Amalgam, French amalgame, or Spanish amalgama,[1][2] ultimately from Medieval Latin amalgama, from Arabic الْمَلْغَم‎ (al-malḡam), from Ancient Greek μάλαγμα (málagma).[3] First attested in 1771.[4]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈmal.ɡam/
• Rhymes: -alɡam
• Syllabification: a‧mal‧gam

Noun

amalgam m inan

1. (metallurgy) amalgam (alloy containing mercury)

   Synonyms: amalgamat, ortęć

2. (literary) amalgam (combination of different things)

   Synonyms: aliaż, amalgamat, melanż, mieszanina, mieszanka

Declension

Declension of amalgam

	singular	plural
nominative	amalgam	amalgamy
genitive	amalgamu	amalgamów
dative	amalgamowi	amalgamom
accusative	amalgam	amalgamy
instrumental	amalgamem	amalgamami
locative	amalgamie	amalgamach
vocative	amalgamie	amalgamy

Related terms

adjective

• amalgamatowy

 

nouns

• amalgamacja
• amalgamat

 

verb

• amalgamować

 

References

1. Mirosław Bańko; Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
2. Andrzej Bańkowski (2000) Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego‎ (in Polish)
3. Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “amalgam”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN
4. Józef Feliks Rogaliński (1771) Doswiadczenia skutkow rzeczy pod zmysły podpadaiących na publicznych posiedzeniach w szkołach poznańskich Societatis Jesu na widok wystawione y wykladane, Jego Krolewskiey Mosci Panu naszemu Miłościwemu ofiarowane‎, volume 1, page 125

Further reading

• amalgam in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• amalgam in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807-1814), “amalgam”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “amalgam”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “amalgam”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 29
• amalgam in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

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Romanian

Etymology

From French amalgame, from Latin amalgama.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.mal.ˈɡam/
• Rhymes: -am
• Hyphenation: a‧mal‧gam

Noun

amalgam n (plural amalgame)

1. amalgam

Declension

Declension of amalgam

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) amalgam	amalgamul	(niște) amalgame	amalgamele
genitive/dative	(unui) amalgam	amalgamului	(unor) amalgame	amalgamelor
vocative	amalgamule		amalgamelor

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Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /amǎlɡaːm/
• Hyphenation: a‧mal‧gam

Noun

amàlgām m (Cyrillic spelling ама̀лга̄м)

1. amalgam

Declension

Declension of amalgam

	singular	plural
nominative	amàlgām	amalgami
genitive	amalgáma	amalgama
dative	amalgamu	amalgamima
accusative	amalgam	amalgame
vocative	amalgame	amalgami
locative	amalgamu	amalgamima
instrumental	amalgamom	amalgamima

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Swedish

Noun

amalgam n

1. amalgam

Declension

Declension of amalgam
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	amalgam	amalgamet	—	—
Genitive	amalgams	amalgamets	—	—