coalesce

English

WOTD – 3 April 2009

Etymology

From Latin coalēscō, from co- + alēscō (“grow up”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kəʊ.əˈlɛs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /koʊ.əˈlɛs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Verb

coalesce (third-person singular simple present coalesces, present participle coalescing, simple past and past participle coalesced)

1. (of separate elements) To join into a single mass or whole.

   The droplets coalesced into a puddle.

   • 2005, Plato, Sophist, Translation by Lesley Brown, 2,

     ... when a thing's own light and the light from something else coalescing into one on bright and smooth surfaces produce a form which yields a perception reversed from the way a thing normally looks.

2. (of a whole or a unit) To form from different pieces or elements.

   The puddle coalesced from the droplets as they ran together.

3. (engineering) To bond pieces of metal into a continuous whole by liquefying parts of each piece, bringing the liquids into contact, and allowing the combined liquid to solidify.

Synonyms

• (to join into a single mass): amalgamate, combine, join, merge, unite, fuse

Related terms

• -esce
• coalescence
• coalition

Translations

to join into a single mass

• Bulgarian: сливам се (slivam se), обединявам се (obedinjavam se)
• Catalan: unir-se (ca), ajuntar-se (ca), incorporar-se (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 汇聚 (zh)

• Czech: sloučit se, spojit (cs) se
• Dutch: versmelten (nl), samensmelten (nl)
• Estonian: kokku sulanduma
• Finnish: yhdistyä (fi), yhtyä (fi), kerääntyä (fi)
• French: se fondre (fr), coalescer (fr)

• German: vereinigen (de), verschmelzen (de), zusammenfließen (de), zusammenfügen (de), zusammenwachsen
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: coalescer, aglutinar (pt)
• Russian: сливаться (ru) (slivatʹsja), объединя́ться (ru) (obʺjedinjátʹsja)
• Scottish Gaelic: aonaich, measgaich
• Spanish: juntarse (es), incorporarse (es), coalescer
• Swedish: sammansmälta
• Turkish: birleşmek (tr), bütünleşmek (tr), kaynaşmak (tr)

to form from different elements

• Bulgarian: сливам се (slivam se)
• Czech: sloučit se, spojit (cs) se
• Dutch: doen versmelten, doen samensmelten
• Finnish: yhdistyä (fi)
• French: se réunir (fr), s'unir (fr)

• German: vereinigen (de), verschmelzen (de), zusammenfließen (de), zusammenfügen (de), zusammenwachsen
• Portuguese: coalescer, aglutinar (pt)
• Russian: объединя́ться (ru) (obʺjedinjátʹsja)
• Scottish Gaelic: aonaich, measgaich
• Spanish: unirse (es)

---

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ko.aˈleːs.ke/, [kɔ.aˈɫeːs.kɛ]

Verb

coalēsce

1. second-person singular present active imperative of coalēscō

---

Portuguese

Verb

coalesce

1. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present indicative of coalescer
2. second-person singular (tu, sometimes used with você) affirmative imperative of coalescer