接頭辞 a- ad-と同じ。 根源 malg, soft, fused, with mel, soft, see melt, melting.もともとは錬金術における水銀と他の金属との融合を指す。
英語の語源
amalgam (n.)
c. 1400, "blend of mercury with another metal; soft mass formed by chemical manipulation," from Old French amalgame or directly from Medieval Latin amalgama, "alloy of mercury (especially with gold or silver)," an alchemists' word, perhaps an alteration of Latin malagma "poultice, plaster," probably from Arabic al-malgham "an emollient poultice or unguent for sores (especially warm)" [Francis Johnson, "A Dictionary of Persian, Arabic, and English"], perhaps from Greek malagma "softening substance," from malassein "to soften," from malakos "soft."
例文
1. The film script is an amalgam of all three books.
この映画脚本は3冊の本から合成された。
2.To counter this myth,we explained that we 're really an amalgam of little guys.
この神話を打破するために、私たちは確かに小さな庶民からなる混合体だと説明しました。
3.In other words,American literature is to our eyes a curious amalgam of familiar and strange.