conflate
/kənˈfleɪt
/verb [with object]
Combine (two or more sets of information, texts, ideas, etc.) into one: the urban crisis conflates a number of different economic, political, and social issues...
- We have the difficult task of fighting them, while protecting innocents in a war where the enemy deliberately and cynically conflates the two.
- The Russian language does not premise argument upon evidence; it conflates the two.
- There are in fact two distinct arguments, but I will argue that neither works on its own, and that the plausibility of utilitarianism depends on conflating the two.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'fuse or melt down metal'): from Latin conflat- 'kindled, fused', from the verb conflare, from con- 'together' + flare 'to blow'.
The early meaning of this was ‘fuse or melt down metal’; it is from Latin conflare ‘kindle, fuse’, from con- ‘together’ and flare ‘to blow’.