convergencen.
/kənˈvəːdʒəns/ 1.
a. The action or fact of converging; movement directed toward or terminating in the same point (called the point of convergence).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > [noun] > towards each other or convergence
concourse1398
recountera1470
congress1578
concurrency1597
flocking1604
confluence1606
contraction1610
congression1611
closing1625
conflux1655
coition1656
concurrencea1661
convolation1676
concursion1692
convergence1713
convergency1794
the world > space > relative position > inclination > state or quality of being convergent > [noun] > action or fact of converging
congress1578
contracting1585
congression1611
concentration1612
concentering1641
convergence1713
convergency1794
convergement1839
focusing1844
1713 W. Derham Physico-theol. iv. ii. 104 The Convergencies and Divergencies of the Rays.
1794 J. Hutton Diss. Philos. Light 75 We have here two focal centers..viz. the center of eradiation or emission, and that of convergence or reception.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 364 In the metropolis of commerce the point of convergence was the Exchange.
1866 R. M. Ferguson Electricity 29 The convergence in both cases is to a point.
b. elliptical for degree or point of convergence.
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1855 H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. iii. xi. 452 An adjustment of their axes to the requisite convergence.
1885 Manch. Examiner 26 Oct. 5/2 Krakatao is situated at the convergence of three great earth fractures.
c. Meteorology. The accumulation of air in a region caused by converging winds and resulting in upward air currents. Also attributive.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > movements and pressure conditions > [noun] > accumulation of air in a region
convergence1906
1906 W. N. Shaw & R. G. K. Lempfert Life Hist. Surface Air Currents i. 18 As the most obvious example of convergence we may take the case in which the winds from all points of a closed curve blow inwards.
1906 W. N. Shaw & R. G. K. Lempfert Life Hist. Surface Air Currents i. 19 If trajectories [of air] are drawn from a series of points on the boundary of a definite area and steps are taken along the trajectories for equal intervals, the variation of the area defined by the series of points can be measured and a region where the area so enclosed is diminishing is a region of convergence and indicates a locality of rising air.
1953 F. K. Hare Restless Atmosphere ix. 108 The trade winds meet..along a fairly definite ‘front’... The use of the word ‘front’ is..something of a misnomer, and it has been suggested that the term ‘intertropical convergence zone’ should replace the older form.
1957 G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. iv. 225 The equatorial region, where frontal convergences and a general upward movement produce adiabatic cooling and cloud formation.
2. figurative and transferred. Coming or drawing together; concurrence of operations, effects, etc.
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1843 W. E. Gladstone in Foreign & Colonial Q. Rev. Oct. 553 We conceive it must now be admitted, from the convergence of such various and unsuspected testimony,that they force themselves upon the view of all.
1867 G. H. Lewes Hist. Philos. II. 640 Convergence of effort, not conflict.
1881 B. F. Westcott & F. J. A. Hort New Test. in Orig. Greek II. Introd. ii. 69 A convergence of phenomena points to some lost reading.
3. Mathematics. Of convergent series or fractions.
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the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > numerical arrangement > [noun] > set > sequence > series > convergent
convergency1791
convergence1858
Fourier('s) series1877
1858 I. Todhunter Algebra for Schools xl. (heading) Convergence and Divergence of Series.
1858 I. Todhunter Algebra for Schools xl. §558 Some writers prefer another definition of convergence; namely, they consider a series convergent only when the sum of an indefinitely large number of terms can be made to differ from one fixed value by less than any assigned quantity.
4. Convergent quality, convergency n. rare.
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the world > space > relative position > inclination > state or quality of being convergent > [noun]
convergency1709
convergence1833
1833 N. Arnott Elements Physics (ed. 5) II. i. 208 A lens weaker still might only destroy the divergence of the rays, without being able to give them any convergence.
5. Biology. The tendency in diverse or allied animals or plants to assume similar characteristics under like conditions of environment.
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the world > life > biology > biological processes > evolution > [noun] > processes or types of evolution
transmutation1626
substitution1822
subspeciation1826
metamorphosis1835
phytogenesis1847
phytogeny1850
anamorphosis1852
correlation1859
advergence1861
convergence1861
phylogeny1869
ontogeny1872
recapitulation1874
ontogenesis1875
phylogenesis1875
biogenesis1876
abiogenesis1884
anagenesis1889
tachygenesis1893
orthogenesis1895
adaptive radiation1898
speciation1906
microevolution1911
subspeciation1921
raciation1934
orthogenetics1937
encephalization1938
proterogenesis1938
allomorphosis1941
cladogenesis1953
Wallace effect1966
metachromism1968
punctuation1976
speciational evolution1988
tachygen-
1861 C. Darwin Origin of Species (ed. 3) iv. 141 A distinguished botanist, Mr. H. C. Watson, believes that I have overrated the importance of the principle of divergence of character.., and that convergence of character, as it may be called, has likewise played a part.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 343/2 Multiradial apocentricities lie at the root of many of the phenomena that have been grouped under the designation Convergence.
1927 J. B. S. Haldane & J. S. Huxley Animal Biol. xi. 223 Convergence, where a similar mode of life produces similar effects on quite unrelated animals.
1953 G. Sarton Hist. Sci. I. i. 17 The theory of convergent evolution, or convergence (as the anthropologists call it), does not deny the frequent occurrence of borrowings and imitation between one people and another.
1963 E. Mayr Animal Species & Evol. xix. 609 Where no common heritage exists evolutionary parallelism is more correctly called convergence.
Compounds
convergence frequency in a spectrum series of lines, the limiting frequency toward which the higher members of the series converge as asymptotes.
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1903 A. M. Clerke Probl. Astrophysics 53 This limit, known as the ‘convergence frequency’ is a distinctive feature of spectral series.
Draft additions 1993
d. Oceanography. Any region where currents converge; spec. each of several named regions (esp. Antarctic convergence, Arctic convergence) at the boundary between two converging currents, at which the denser body of water is subducted.
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the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > current > [noun] > sea > region of meeting
convergence1933
1933 G. E. R. Deacon in Discovery Rep. VII. 179 Along the Antarctic convergence..Antarctic surface water sinks below sub-Antarctic water.
1942 H. U. Sverdrup et al. Oceans iv. 139 The most conspicuous convergence is the Antarctic convergence, which can be traced all round the Antarctic Continent.
1963 G. L. Pickard Descriptive Physical Oceanogr. vii. 114 The Subtropical Convergence is at about 40°S round most of the Antarctic.
1984 A. C. Duxbury & A. Duxbury Introd. World's Oceans vii. 231 There are three major zones of convergence: the tropical convergence at the equator, the subtropical convergences..and the Arctic and Antarctic convergences.
Draft additions December 2002
Political Economy. A theory (not now widely held) which states that, irrespective of political ideologies, all social and economic systems follow similar patterns of development.Used esp. with reference to the anticipated gradual elimination of (significant) social, economic, and political differences between Communist and capitalist nations.
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1935 B. Wootton Plan or No Plan x. 270 Is it even possible that the future may see some sort of convergence of both capitalist and Communist societies towards a new order midway between the two?]
1958 N. Jacobs Origin of Mod. Capitalism & Eastern Asia 13 Following the principle of convergence, we see that the structures of Japan and western Europe show important underlying principles in common, despite variations in traits.
1971 Times Lit. Suppl. 31 Dec. 1621/5 The theory of convergence informs us that societies on both sides of the Iron Curtain are conditioned by similar forces in all respects, whatever the differences in kind or degree of individual liberty enjoyed by their members.
1993 Oxf. Compan. Polit. World 194/2 The fading of the convergence thesis can be in part attributed to the acknowledgement of complexity and particularity and to a subsequent emphasis on sharply delineated comparative studies.
Draft additions December 2002
The process by which originally distinct technologies may become more compatible or integrated as they develop, so that an increasing number of devices (esp. in electronics, computing, and telecommunications) are multifunctional and interoperable. Cf. multimedia n. 1.
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1978 Times 15 Sept. 21/5 Convergence (of computing, telecommunications and office products technologies) and vertical integration are going to create utter chaos in the market for information systems.
1987 T. Forester High-tech Society ii. 28 There are few areas of industry or commerce left untouched by microelectronics. That is why the word ‘pervasive’ (along with ‘convergence’) crops up so often in discussions of the impact of the computer revolution.
1993 N.Y. Times 21 Nov. iii. 13/2 Bewitched by convergence mania, companies are concocting a catalogue's worth of new combo-products.
1996 Internet World June 10/2 Corporate information systems have been undergoing their own convergence. Image processing, intelligent text-retrieval, groupware, object-oriented databases, fax, e-mail, and workflow systems, and other advanced technologies have been merging in corporate environments.
2001 Wall St. Jrnl. 4 Apr. b2/4 Both Oxygen and AOL have ‘convergence’ strategies aimed at bringing together TV and Internet operations.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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