amalgam Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an alloy of mercury with another metal (usually silver) used by dentists to fill cavities in teeth; except for iron and platinum all metals dissolve in mercury and chemists refer to the resulting mercury mixtures as amalgams
    dental amalgam.
  2. noun a combination or blend of diverse things
    • his theory is an amalgam of earlier ideas

WordNet

A*mal"gam noun
Etymology
F. amalgame, prob. fr. L. malagma, Gr. , emollient, plaster, poultice, fr. to make soft, fr. soft.
Definitions
  1. An alloy of mercury with another metal or metals; as, an amalgam of tin, bismuth, etc. ✍ Medalists apply the term to soft alloys generally.
  2. A mixture or compound of different things.
  3. (Min.) A native compound of mercury and silver.
A*mal"gam transitive verb & intransitive verb
Etymology
Cf. F. amalgamer
Definitions
  1. To amalgamate. Boyle. B. Jonson.

Webster 1913