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)

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) When two, or more, pieces of metal are bonded together (usually via welding) by liquefying the places where they are to be bonded, coalescing these liquids, and allowing the coalesced liquid to solidify. At the end of this process the two pieces of metal have become one continuous solid.

Synonyms

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

Related terms

• -esce
• coalescence

Translations

to join into a single mass

• Bulgarian: сливам се (slivam se), обединявам се (obedinjavam se)
• Czech: sloučit se, spojit se
• Dutch: versmelten, samensmelten (nl)
• Finnish: yhdistyä, yhtyä (fi), kerääntyä
• French: se fondre, coalescer (fr)
• German: vereinigen (de), verschmelzen, zusammenfließen (de), zusammenfügen, zusammenwachsen

• Portuguese: coalescer, aglutinar (pt)
• Russian: сливаться (ru) (slivatʹsja), объединяться (ru) (obʺjedinjatʹsja)
• Scottish Gaelic: aonaich, measgaich
• Spanish: juntarse (es), incorporarse
• Swedish: sammansmälta
• Turkish: birleşmek (tr), bütünleşmek (tr), kaynaşmak (tr)

to form from different elements

• Bulgarian: сливам се (slivam se)
• Czech: sloučit se, spojit se
• Dutch: doen versmelten, doen samensmelten
• Finnish: yhdistyä
• French: se réunir (fr), s'unir (fr)
• German: vereinigen (de), verschmelzen, zusammenfließen (de), zusammenfügen, zusammenwachsen

• Portuguese: coalescer, aglutinar (pt)
• Russian: объединяться (ru) (obʺjedinjatʹsja)
• Scottish Gaelic: aonaich, measgaich
• Spanish: unirse (es)

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Latin

Verb

coalesce

1. second-person singular present active imperative of coalescō