1. amalgam(n = noun.substance) dental amalgam - an alloy of mercury with another metal (usually silver) used by dentists to fill cavities in teeth; except for iron and platinum all metals dissolve in mercury and chemists refer to the resulting mercury mixtures as amalgams;
is a kind of alloy, metal
2. amalgam(n = noun.group) - a combination or blend of diverse things; "his theory is an amalgam of earlier ideas"
is a kind of combination
Derived form verb amalgamate1
1. An alloy of mercury with another metal or metals; as, an amalgam of tin, bismuth, etc. [1913 Webster]
" Medalists apply the term to soft alloys generally." [1913 Webster]
2. A mixture or compound of different things. [1913 Webster]
3. A native compound of mercury and silver. [1913 Webster]
To amalgamate. Boyle.
amalgam, n.
1 a mixture or blend.
2 an alloy of mercury with one or more other metals, used esp. in dentistry.
Etymology:
ME f. F amalgame or med.L amalgama f. Gk malagma an emollient
N mixture, admixture, commixture, commixtion, commixion, intermixture, alloyage, matrimony, junction, combination, miscegenation, impregnation, infusion, diffusion suffusion, transfusion, infiltration, seasoning, sprinkling, interlarding, interpolation, adulteration, sophistication, tinge, tincture, touch, dash, smack, sprinkling, spice, seasoning, infusion, soupcon, alloy, amalgam, brass, chowchow, pewter, magma, half-and-half, melange, tertium quid, miscellany, ambigu, medley, mess, hotchpot, pasticcio, patchwork, odds and ends, all sorts, jumble, salad, sauce, mash, omnium gatherum, gallimaufry, olla-podrida, olio, salmagundi, potpourri, Noah's ark, caldron texture, mingled yarn, mosaic, half-blood, half-caste, mulatto, terceron, quarteron, quinteron, quadroon, octoroon, griffo, zambo, cafuzo, Eurasian, fustee, fustie, griffe, ladino, marabou, mestee, mestizo, quintroon, sacatra zebrule, catalo, cross, hybrid, mongrel, mixed, implex, composite, half-and-half, linsey-woolsey, chowchow, hybrid, mongrel, heterogeneous, motley, miscellaneous, promiscuous, indiscriminate, miscible, among, amongst, amid, amidst, with, in the midst of, in the crowd.
N combination, mixture, junction, union, unification, synthesis, incorporation, amalgamation, embodiment, coalescence, crasis, fusion, blending, absorption, centralization, alloy, compound, amalgam, composition, tertium quid, resultant, impregnation, combined, impregnated with, ingrained, imbued inoculated.