Word of the Day

: August 29, 2017

coalesce

verb koh-uh-LESS

What It Means

1 : to grow together

2 a : to unite into a whole : fuse

b : to unite for a common end : join forces

3 : to arise from the combination of distinct elements

coalesce in Context

"Parties typically struggle to coalesce on complex legislative issues." — Frances Lee, The Washington Post, 23 July 2017

"Their first gig was at the Kennedy Center. More gigs followed, ... and the musicians coalesced into a working band, on the road three weeks out of every month." — Fred Kaplan, The New Yorker, 22 May 2017

Did You Know?

Coalesce unites the prefix co- ("together") and the Latin verb alescere, meaning "to grow." (The words adolescent and adult also grew from alescere.) Coalesce, which first appeared in English in the mid-16th century, is one of a number of verbs in English (along with mix, commingle, merge, and amalgamate) that refer to the act of combining parts into a whole. In particular, coalesce usually implies the merging of similar parts to form a cohesive unit.