conglomeration
/kən,glɔmə'reiʃn/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- The act or process of gathering or forming into a mass: "conglomeration" can refer to the action of combining various, often disparate, items into a single, often shapeless, whole.
- A cohering mass or cluster of varied elements: It also denotes the resulting entity itself—a collection of many different things brought or lumped together.
- A rounded, spherical mass: In a more specific sense, it can describe a physical object with a rounded, aggregated form.
Usage and Examples
- Noun:
- The city was a fascinating conglomeration of old and new architecture. (The city was a fascinating mass combining old and new buildings.)
- His theory is a conglomeration of ideas from several different philosophers. (His theory is a combined total of ideas from several different sources.)
- The geologist showed us a conglomeration of pebbles and sand cemented together. (The geologist showed us a rounded mass formed from pebbles and sand.)
Advanced Usage
- "A conglomeration of": This is the most common collocation, used to introduce the diverse elements that make up the whole.
- The dish was a strange conglomeration of flavors. (The dish was a strange combination of different tastes.)
- Used to imply a lack of organization or a haphazard mixture.
- The report was not a coherent analysis but a mere conglomeration of data. (The report was just a jumbled collection of information, not a proper analysis.)
Variants and Related Words
- Conglomerate (verb): To gather into a mass or coherent whole.
- Smaller companies often conglomerate to compete with larger corporations.
- Conglomerate (noun): A large corporation formed by merging diverse companies; also, a rock consisting of rounded fragments cemented together.
- The media conglomerate owns several television networks and publishing houses.
- Conglomeratic (adj): Having the nature of a conglomerate.
Synonyms
- Agglomeration: A mass or collection of things.
- Aggregation: A collection of items gathered together.
- Amalgamation: The process of combining or uniting into one structure.
- Assortment: A collection of various kinds of things.
- Medley: A mixture, especially of diverse elements.
Antonyms
- Separation: The action of moving or being moved apart.
- Division: The process of separating something into parts.
- Dissolution: The closing down or dismissal of an assembly or partnership.
Idioms and Phrases
- While there are no common idioms using "conglomeration" itself, the concept is often expressed in phrases like:
- A mixed bag: A collection of varied things or people.
- A hodgepodge: A confused mixture; a hotchpotch.
Noun
- an occurrence combining miscellaneous things into a (more or less) rounded mass
- a sum total of many heterogenous things taken together
- a rounded spherical form