amalgam

See also: Amalgam and amalgám

English

An amalgam (sense 4).

Etymology

From Medieval Latin amalgama (“mercury alloy”), from Arabic اَلْمَلْغَم (al-malḡam, “emollient poultice or unguent for sores”), from Ancient Greek μάλαγμα (málagma, “emollient; malleable material”), from μαλάσσω (malássō, “to soften”), from μαλακός (malakós, “soft”). Doublet of malagma. For the verb, compare French amalgamer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈmæl.ɡəm/
• Hyphenation: a‧mal‧gam

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

amalgam (countable and uncountable, plural amalgams)

1. (metallurgy) An alloy containing mercury.
2. A combination of different things.
   • 1960 March, J. P. Wilson, E. N. C. Haywood, “The route through the Peak - Derby to Manchester: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 149:

     This was the Ambergate, Nottingham & Boston & Eastern Junction Railway, an amalgam of a number of separate schemes put forward in 1845, which secured its Act on July 16, 1846.

   • 1987 December 20, Barbara Smith, “We Must Always Bury Our Dead Twice”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 23, page 10:

     A church where spirit, pain, and joy formed a holy amalgam and were righteously acknowledged out loud.

3. One of the ingredients in an alloy.
5. (dentistry) An alloy of mercury used to fill tooth cavities.

Synonyms

• alloy, blend, combo, compound, conglomerate, mixture

Derived terms

• amalgamable
• amalgam carrier
• amalgam gilding
• amalgamize
• amalgam tattoo
• Amalgamverse
• gold amalgam
• leadamalgam
• sodium amalgam

Related terms

• amalgamate
• amalgamation

Translations

alloy

• Arabic: مُلْغَم m (mulḡam)
• Bulgarian: амалга́ма (bg) f (amalgáma)
• Catalan: amalgama (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 汞齊 / 汞齐 (zh) (gǒngjì)

• Czech: amalgám (cs) m
• Danish: amalgam (da) n
• Dutch: amalgaam (nl) n
• Finnish: amalgaami (fi)
• French: amalgame (fr) m
• German: Amalgam (de) n
• Greek: αμάλγαμα (el) n (amálgama)
• Hungarian: amalgám (hu)
• Indonesian: amalgam (id)
• Italian: amalgama (it) m
• Macedonian: амалга́м m (amalgám)
• Malay: amalgam
• Manx: co-lheian m
• Persian: ملغمه (fa) (malġame)
• Polish: amalgamat (pl) m, ortęć (pl) f
• Portuguese: amálgama (pt) m or f
• Romanian: amalgam (ro) n
• Russian: амальга́ма (ru) f (amalʹgáma)
• Spanish: amalgama (es) f
• Swedish: amalgam (sv) n
• Turkish: amalgam (tr), malgama (tr)
• Vietnamese: hỗn hống (vi)
• Welsh: aloi m, erblith m

combination

• Catalan: amalgama (ca) f
• Finnish: amalgaami (fi)
• French: amalgame (fr) m
• Greek: αμάλγαμα (el) n (amálgama), κράμα (el) n (kráma), σύμφυρμα (el) n (sýmfyrma)
• Macedonian: амалга́м m (amalgám), смеса f (smesa)
• Manx: co-lheian m
• Persian: ملغمه (fa) (malġame)
• Polish: amalgamat (pl) m, amalgam (pl) m
• Portuguese: amálgama (pt) m or f
• Romanian: amestecătură (ro) f
• Russian: амальга́ма (ru) f (amalʹgáma)
• Spanish: amalgama (es) f
• Welsh: erblith m

Verb

amalgam (third-person singular simple present amalgams, present participle amalgaming, simple past and past participle amalgamed)

1. (ambitransitive, archaic) To amalgamate (something) with a thing.
   • 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, (please specify the Internet Archive page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     gold t’amalgam with some six of mercury

   • 1684, Robert Boyle, “An Essay on the Porousness of Solid Bodies. Chapter VIII.”, in Experiments and Considerations about the Porosity of Bodies, in Two Essays, London: […] Sam[uel] Smith […], →OCLC, page 143:

     […] I had once occaſion to diſtil in a ſmall Retort ſome Gold amalgamed vvith ſuch a fine and ſubtile Mercury, that being (vvithout the addition of any Salt) put to the Gold in the cold, they preſently grevv hot together.

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “amalgam”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• David Barthelmy (1997–2025) “Amalgam”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “amalgam”, in Mindat.org‎^[2], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2025.
• “amalgam”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• Amalgam (dentistry) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Amalgam (chemistry) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• malagma

Icelandic

Noun

amalgam n (genitive singular amalgams, no plural)

1. amalgam

Declension

Declension of amalgam (sg-only neuter)

	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	amalgam	amalgamið
accusative	amalgam	amalgamið
dative	amalgami	amalgaminu
genitive	amalgams	amalgamsins

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch amalgaam, from French amalgame, from Latin amalgama, from Medieval Latin amalgama (“mercury alloy”), from Arabic اَلْمَلْغَم (al-malḡam, “emollient poultice or unguent for sores”), from Ancient Greek μάλαγμα (málagma, “emollient; malleable material”), from μαλάσσω (malássō, “to soften”), from μαλακός (malakós, “soft”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈamalɡam]
• Hyphenation: amal‧gam

Noun

amalgam (plural amalgam-amalgam)

1. amalgam:
   1. (chemistry) an alloy containing mercury
   2. (dentistry) material of silver tooth fillings

Derived terms

• pengamalgam
• pengamalgaman

Related terms

• amalgamasi

Further reading

• “amalgam” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Noun

amalgam (Jawi spelling املݢم, plural amalgam-amalgam)

1. (metallurgy) amalgam

Further reading

• “amalgam” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Polish

Alternative forms

• amalgama (obsolete)

Etymology

Internationalism; compare English amalgam. Possibly borrowed from German Amalgam, French amalgame, or Spanish amalgama, ultimately from Medieval Latin amalgama, from Arabic الْمَلْغَم (al-malḡam), from Ancient Greek μάλαγμα (málagma). First attested in 1771.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈmal.ɡam/
• Rhymes: -alɡam
• Syllabification: a‧mal‧gam

Noun

amalgam m inan

1. (metallurgy) amalgam (alloy containing mercury)

   Synonyms: amalgamat, ortęć

2. (literary) amalgam (combination of different things)

   Synonyms: aliaż, amalgamat, melanż, mieszanina, mieszanka

Declension

Declension of amalgam

	singular	plural
nominative	amalgam	amalgamy
genitive	amalgamu	amalgamów
dative	amalgamowi	amalgamom
accusative	amalgam	amalgamy
instrumental	amalgamem	amalgamami
locative	amalgamie	amalgamach
vocative	amalgamie	amalgamy

Related terms

adjective

• amalgamatowy

nouns

• amalgamacja
• amalgamat

verb

• amalgamować

Further reading

• amalgam in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “amalgam”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “amalgam”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “amalgam”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 29
• amalgam in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French amalgame, from Latin amalgama.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.mal.ˈɡam/
• Rhymes: -am
• Hyphenation: a‧mal‧gam

Noun

amalgam n (plural amalgame)

1. amalgam

Declension

Declension of amalgam

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	amalgam	amalgamul		amalgame	amalgamele
genitive-dative	amalgam	amalgamului		amalgame	amalgamelor
vocative	amalgamule			amalgamelor

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /amǎlɡaːm/
• Hyphenation: a‧mal‧gam

Noun

amàlgām m (Cyrillic spelling ама̀лга̄м)

1. amalgam

Declension

Declension of amalgam

	singular	plural
nominative	amàlgām	amalgami
genitive	amalgáma	amalgama
dative	amalgamu	amalgamima
accusative	amalgam	amalgame
vocative	amalgame	amalgami
locative	amalgamu	amalgamima
instrumental	amalgamom	amalgamima

Swedish

Noun

amalgam n

1. amalgam

Declension

Declension of amalgam

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	amalgam	amalgams
	definite	amalgamet	amalgamets
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—