amalgam
/əˈmalɡəm
/noun
1A mixture or blend: a curious amalgam of the traditional and the modern...
- More than 50 years ago, writer Carey Williams described LA as ‘a curious amalgam of all America’.
- In fact, what we're getting on November 30 is a curious amalgam of the reactionary and the progressive.
- A curious amalgam of straight history and political pamphlet, it was relatively little read in antiquity, and its modern status has declined in recent years.
Synonyms
combination, union, merger, blend, mixture, mingling, compound, fusion, marriage, weave, coalescence, synthesis, composite, composition, concoction, amalgamation
informal mash-up
1.1 Chemistry An alloy of mercury with another metal, especially one used for dental fillings: [as modifier]: amalgam fillings...
- Another use of silver alloys is in dental amalgams.
- Depending upon the decorative nature of his work, he may also have known how to gild metals with an amalgam of mercury and gold.
- Very small amounts of mercury collect in our bodies from a number of sources including the environment, our food and our amalgam fillings.
Origin
Late 15th century: from French amalgame or medieval Latin amalgama, from Greek malagma 'an emollient'.