Standard Lemma guide

amalgam

noun · verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /əˈmæl.ɡəm/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 M AE1 L G AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An alloy containing mercury.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: engineering, metallurgy, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A combination of different things.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

One of the ingredients in an alloy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

An alloy of mercury used to fill tooth cavities.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: dentistry, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To amalgamate (something) with a thing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: ambitransitive, archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

a combination or blend of diverse things

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • his theory is an amalgam of earlier ideas

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: combination

7

noun

Meaning 7

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

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dental amalgam

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: alloy, metal

History

Etymology

From Medieval Latin amalgama (“mercury alloy”), from Arabic اَلْمَلْغَم (al-malḡam, “emollient poultice or unguent for sores”), from Ancient Greek μάλαγμα (málagma, “emollient; malleable material”), from μαλάσσω (malássō, “to soften”), from μαλακός (malakós, “soft”). Doublet of malagma. For the verb, compare French amalgamer.

Across languages

Translations

49 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مَلْغَم (malḡam) — alloy
  • Arabic: مَلْغَمَة (malḡama) — alloy
  • Bulgarian: амалга́ма (amalgáma) — alloy
  • Catalan: amalgama — alloy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 汞齊 /汞齐 (gǒngjì) — alloy
  • Czech: amalgám — alloy
  • Danish: amalgam — alloy
  • Dutch: amalgaam — alloy
  • Finnish: amalgaami — alloy
  • French: amalgame — alloy
  • German: Amalgam — alloy
  • Greek: αμάλγαμα (amálgama) — alloy
  • Hungarian: amalgám — alloy
  • Indonesian: amalgam — alloy
  • Italian: amalgama — alloy
  • Macedonian: амалга́м (amalgám) — alloy
  • Malay: amalgam — alloy
  • Manx: co-lheian — alloy
  • Persian: ملغمه (malġame) — alloy
  • Polish: amalgamat — alloy
  • Polish: ortęć — alloy
  • Portuguese: amálgama — alloy
  • Romanian: amalgam — alloy
  • Russian: амальга́ма (amalʹgáma) — alloy
  • Spanish: amalgama — alloy
  • Swedish: amalgam — alloy
  • Turkish: amalgam — alloy
  • Turkish: malgama — alloy
  • Ukrainian: амальга́ма (amalʹháma) — alloy
  • Vietnamese: hỗn hống — alloy
  • Welsh: aloi — alloy
  • Welsh: erblith — alloy
  • Catalan: amalgama — combination
  • Finnish: amalgaami — combination
  • French: amalgame — combination
  • Greek: αμάλγαμα (amálgama) — combination
  • Greek: κράμα (kráma) — combination
  • Greek: σύμφυρμα (sýmfyrma) — combination
  • Macedonian: амалга́м (amalgám) — combination
  • Macedonian: смеса (smesa) — combination
  • Manx: co-lheian — combination
  • Persian: ملغمه (malġame) — combination
  • Polish: amalgamat — combination
  • Polish: amalgam — combination
  • Portuguese: amálgama — combination
  • Romanian: amestecătură — combination
  • Russian: амальга́ма (amalʹgáma) — combination
  • Spanish: amalgama — combination
  • Welsh: erblith — combination