agglomerationn.
/əˌɡlɒməˈreɪʃn/, U.S. /əˌɡlɑməˈreɪʃən/ 1. The action or process by which separate particles or elements collect together in a mass or group; combining in a coherent but often unassimilated or disorderly mass; heaping, binding, or congregating together; the result of this. Frequently in scientific contexts. Cf. conglomeration n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > [noun] > composite collectiveness > agglomeration or conglomeration
congregationc1374
conglomeration1626
glomeration1626
agglomeration1661
club1664
consolidationa1676
1661 A. Symson Wilson's Compl. Christian Dict. (ed. 7) at Frankincense The rowlings, and agglomerations of smoak.
1684 S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Of Urines in Pract. Physick (rev. ed.) 27 The motion and agglomeration or heaping together of most subtil and agil Particles [L. particularum subtilissimarum, & maxime agilium motu, & agglomeratione].
1732 tr. H. Boerhaave Elements Chymistry I. ii. 57 Fire collected becomes more violent... Condensation..or agglomeration raises all these agitations.
1778 T. Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry II. x. 223 An excessive agglomeration of turrets..is one of the characteristic marks of the florid mode of architecture.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 1250 The block of metal is heated till it becomes brittle, when..it is broken to pieces, and presents an agglomeration of elongated grains or tears; whence it is called grain tin.
1858 tr. Tacitus in C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire VI. lix. 566 The Jews have grown into a nation by the agglomeration of the worst of men from all quarters.
1875 A. Helps Social Pressure ii. 18 The agglomeration of too many people on one spot of ground.
1940 G. H. J. Adlam & L. S. Price Higher School Certificate Inorg. Chem. (ed. 2) xi. 67 Grinding is sometimes effective, particularly if, in the final stages, a hard inert substance, like sand or carborundum, is mixed with the powder. This keeps the particles apart and hinders agglomeration.
1989 Entomologist 108 190 Stratification..is merely the agglomeration of units into groups so that the units in each stratum are as similar as possible.
2001 R. W. Cahn Coming of Materials Sci. x. 401 ‘Ligands’, chemical radicals which bind to and coat the clusters to stabilise them against agglomeration.
2. A mass or assemblage formed by union or approximation, often without assimilation; a loose collection; a clustering or cluster. Cf. conglomeration n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > roughly put together
congeriesa1620
agglomeration1751
agglomerate1827
congery1867
1751 Gentleman's Mag. July 315/1 This apparent agglomeration of stars in a particular tract of the azure concave.
1783 J. Young Crit. Gray's Elegy 30 It is not the anthem that swells the note, but the agglomeration of notes that swells the anthem.
1833 T. Carlyle in Foreign Q. Rev. Apr. 264 Formless, blundering Agglomerations.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany xiii. 215 It was an agglomeration of forbidding-looking granite houses.
1866 H. P. Liddon Bampton Lect. (1875) viii. 494 Society is an agglomeration of self-loving beings.
1921 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Jrnl.-Gaz. 26 June An agglomeration of sound evoked from one-string fiddles, Chinese zithers, and..drums.
1960 Guardian 15 July 14/3 The Yorubas live in the largest urban agglomerations to be found in traditional Africa.
1989 Atlantic Sept. 78/1 These modern agglomerations are surrounded by specially designed schools, post offices, libraries..and stores.
2009 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 11 June 28/1 De Kooning's increasingly vacant agglomerations of unresolved squiggles were touted by opportunistic dealers and complicit curators with euphemisms.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1661