Origin and history of syncretize

1540s, "grow together, unite by growing into one body," from Latin coalescere "unite, grow together, become one in growth," from assimilated form of com- "together" (see co-) + alescere "be nourished," hence, "increase, grow up," inchoative of alere "to suckle, nourish," from PIE

"to blend together, merge, unite" (intransitive), by 1910, of uncertain origin. OED suggests "perh. a blend of MELT v.1 and WELD v." Said elsewhere to be a verb use of melled "mingled, blended," past participle of dialectal mell "to mingle, mix, combine, blend." [T]he biplane gr

c. 1300, blenden, "to mix in such a way as to become inextinguishable, mingle, stir up a liquid," in Middle English chiefly in northern writers, from or akin to rare Old English blandan "to mix" (Mercian blondan) or Old Norse blanda "to mix," or a combination of the two; from Pro

early 15c., "to associate, unite, join two or more things together" (transitive), from Old French combiner (14c.) and directly from Late Latin combinare "to unite, yoke together," from Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + bini "two by two," adverb from bi- "twice" (from PIE ro

1630s, "to plunge or sink in" (to something), a sense now obsolete, from Latin mergere "to dip, dip in, immerse, plunge," probably rhotacized from *mezgo, from PIE *mezgo- "to dip, to sink, to wash, to plunge" (source also of Sanskrit majjanti "to sink, dive under," Lithuanian ma

mid-15c., "to mold or cast from molten metal" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin conflatus, past participle of conflare "to blow up, kindle, light; bring together, compose," also "to melt together," literally "to blow together," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see

late 14c., "abnormally copious flow," from Old French flus "a flowing, a rolling; a bleeding" (Modern French flux), or directly from Latin fluxus (adj.) "flowing, loose, slack," past participle of fluere "to flow" (see fluent). Originally "excessive flow" (of blood or excrement),

1680s, "to melt, make liquid by heat" (transitive), back-formation from fusion. Intransitive sense, "to become liquid," attested from 1800. Figurative sense of "blend different things, blend or unite as if by melting together" is recorded by 1817. Intransitive figurative sense "b

1530s, transitive, "unite or blend promiscuously into one mass, body, or assemblage," a back-formation from Middle English myxte (early 15c.) "mingled, blended, composed of more than one element, of mixed nature," from Anglo-French mixte (late 13c.), from Latin mixtus, past parti

Old English, "move swiftly by using the legs, go on legs more rapidly than walking," also "make haste, hurry; be active, pursue or follow a course," and, of inanimate things, "to move over a course." The modern verb is a merger of two related Old English words, in both of which t