conglomerate

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A large company made up of several smaller companies in different kinds of business.

   The media conglomerate owns newspapers, TV channels, and film studios.

2. 2
   adj

   Made up of many different parts gathered into one mass.

   The report was a conglomerate mix of facts, opinions, and guesses.

3. 3
   noun

   A rock made of pebbles or gravel held together in a natural cement.

   The cliff was formed from a coarse conglomerate of rounded pebbles.

4. 4
   verb

   To combine into a single larger mass.

   Over time the small firms conglomerated into one giant corporation.

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”)).

Topics