| 释义 |
▪ I. amalgamate, ppl. a.|əˈmælgəmət|
[? ad. med.L. *amalgamāt-us, pa. pple. of amalgamā-re, f. amalgama: see amalgam n. Used also as pa. pple. of amalgamate v.]
1. Combined or alloyed. (Said of mercury and another metal.)
1642–7H. More Poems 262 Nimble quicksilver that doth agree With gold..or with what ere it be Amalgamate.
2. Combined, coalesced; spec. of languages (see quot. 1862).
1849–52Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. IV. 1346/2 The Amalgamate type, of which the classical languages are the most perfect example. 1850Mrs. Browning Gerald. Courtsh. lxviii. 3, I felt self-drawn out, as man, From amalgamate false natures. 1862Spencer First Princ. (1870) 321 Out of these [agglutinate languages] by further use, arose the ‘amalgamate’ languages, or those in which the original separateness of the inflexional parts can no longer be traced.
▪ II. amalgamate, v.|əˈmælgəmeɪt|
[f. prec., which also continues in occasional use as its pa. pple., instead of amalgamated.]
1. trans. To soften or dissolve (a metal) by combination with mercury; hence, to combine mercury with another metal.
1660Boyle Exper. Phys. Mech. (R.) Amalgamating mercury with a convenient proportion of pure tin. 1706Phillips, Amalgamate, to mix Mercury or Quicksilver with Gold, or some other noble Metal; so as to reduce it into a kind of Paste. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Amalgamation, The amalgamating mercury with copper is a very difficult process. 1875Ure Dict. Arts III. 806 The chloride of silver thus formed..is amalgamated with the quicksilver.
2. intr. To enter into combination with mercury.
1751Chambers Cycl. s.v. Amalgamation, All metals, except iron and copper, spontaneously unite and amalgamate with mercury. 1804Wollaston in Phil. Trans. XCIV. 424 On the surface of mercury a metallic film was precipitated, but did not appear to amalgamate.
3. By extension, To mix any substances so as to form a uniform compound.
1821Scott Kenilw. (1867) 53 Wayland..mixed, pounded, and amalgamated the drugs.
4. fig. To unite together (classes, races, societies, ideas, etc.) so as to form a homogeneous or harmonious whole. (Used either of combining two elements, or one element with another.)
a. trans.
1802T. Jefferson Writ. (1830) III. 489 It remains to amalgamate the comptroller and auditor into one. 1833Coleridge Table T. 239 [The Romans] were ordained by Providence to conquer and amalgamate the materials of Christendom. 1868M. Pattison Academ. Organ. §5. 157 To amalgamate Merton with Corpus Christi College. 1872W. Minto Eng. Lit. i. i. 63 The four sentences of the original are amalgamated into two.
b. intr.
1797Anti-Jacobin No. 5 Liberty's friends thus all learn to amalgamate. 1848Lytton Harold i. ii. 12 These turbulent invaders had amalgamated amicably with the native race. 1862Marsh Eng. Lang. ii. 31 The Celtic words in English..have never amalgamated with it. 1866Crump Banking ix. 200 Two banks of issue had amalgamated. |