Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- an alloy of mercury with another metal or metals.
- an alloy that consists chiefly of silver mixed with mercury and variable amounts of other metals and is used as a dental filling.
- a rare mineral, an alloy of silver and mercury, occurring as silver-white crystals or grains.
- a mixture or combination: His character is a strange amalgam of contradictory traits.
noun
- an alloy of mercury with another metal, esp with silverdental amalgam
- a rare white metallic mineral that consists of silver and mercury and occurs in deposits of silver and cinnabar
- a blend or combination
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.”
n.
- Any of various alloys of mercury with other metals, as with tin or silver, used for filling teeth.
- An alloy of mercury and another metal, especially:
- An alloy of mercury and silver used in dental fillings.
- An alloy of silver and tin used in silvering mirrors.