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conglomerate

noun
/kənˈɡlɒm.(ə.)ɹət/UK/kənˈɡlɑm.ɚ.ɪt/US/kənˈɡlɒm.əˌɹeɪt/UK/kənˈɡlɑm.əˌɹeɪt/US

Etymology

First attested in the second part of the 16ᵗʰ century; from Latin conglomerātus, perfect passive participle of conglomerō (“to pile into a heap, to roll together”) (see -ate (Etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from con- (prefix indicating a being or bringing together of several objects) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, by, near, with”)) + glomerāre (from glomerō (“to pile into a heap, to make into a ball, glomerate”), from glomus (“ball of thread; ball-shaped mass”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to form into a ball; ball”)).

  1. derived from *gel-✻
  2. derived from *ḱóm✻
  3. derived from conglomerātus

Definitions

  1. A cluster of heterogeneous things.

  2. A corporation formed by the combination of several smaller corporations whose activities…

    A corporation formed by the combination of several smaller corporations whose activities are unrelated to the corporation's primary activity.

  3. A rock consisting of gravel or pebbles embedded in a matrix.

    • Calcareous lias, slate, and trap are still to be found there, rising from layers of conglomerate like teeth out of a gum. But the pickaxe has broken up and levelled those bristling, rugged peaks which were once the homes of the eagles.
    • Everywhere in the river appeared a very remarkable conglomerate, and like the slate in exhibiting all the stages of formation. The matrix was the blue clay of the bank, the rubble was the gravel of the bottom.
  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. Clustered together into a mass.

      • conglomerate flowers
      • The Beames of Light, when they are multiplied and conglomerate, generate Heat; which is a different Action, from the Action of Sight: […]

    2. Composed of fragments of rock, pebbles, or stones cemented together.

      • The Santa Margarita Formation in the southern Temblor Range, composed of conglomerate and subordinate sandstone, evolved as a large complex of fan deltas and submarine fans in late Miocene time.
      • He also documented some intercalated mottled reddish clays and marls, and the upper horizons containing bluish clays with conglomerate beds.

    3. Made up of heterogeneous elements

      Made up of heterogeneous elements; composite.

      • I sat down on a step for a while to get over it, with my head in my hands and that awful conglomerate sound in my ears all the time.

    4. To combine together into a larger mass.

      • [V]apors are never attracted or drawn up above the middle Region of the Air; for that the cold Air there, by thickning and conglomerating them, preſently turn them into clouds: and thence proceeds Miſts, Rains, Snows, Hayls, &c.
      • "In less than an hour," he said, looking up to the sun's disc, which was then feebly struggling through a dim mass of conglomerating clouds; "in less than an hour you shall be fully satisfied and amply revenged."

    5. To combine together into a larger corporation.

      • Some firms conglomerated with suppliers of intermediate inputs and the railroad to carry their products.

The neighborhood

Derived

anticonglomerate, breccio-conglomerate, conglomeratelike, conglomerative, deconglomerate, fanglomerate, financial conglomerate, megaconglomerate, metaconglomerate, microconglomerate, miniconglomerate, orthoconglomerate, paraconglomerate, plastiglomerate, superconglomerate, conglomerately, conglomerateness, conglomerated, conglomerateur, conglomeratic, conglomeration, conglomerator, unconglomerated

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for conglomerate. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA