To amalgamate means to combine or unite separate things into a single whole. When two schools amalgamate, they merge into one larger school, sharing buildings, teachers, and students. When companies amalgamate, they join together to form a single, stronger business.

The word comes from amalgam, a mixture of mercury with other metals that dentists once used for filling cavities. Just as those metals blended completely together, things that amalgamate truly merge and mix, becoming hard to separate.

You might read about cities that amalgamated smaller surrounding towns, creating one larger municipality. A chef might amalgamate different cooking traditions, blending techniques from Italian and Japanese cuisine into something new. When a band amalgamates rock and jazz, they fuse the styles into a hybrid sound where elements of both genres blend throughout their music.

The word carries a sense of thorough mixing rather than loose cooperation. Two classes working together on a project are collaborating, but if they amalgamate, they'd become one combined class. Amalgamation is the noun form, describing the process or result of combining things into a unified whole.