▪ I. conglomerate, a. and n.
(kənˈglɒmərət)
[ad. L. conglomerāt-us, pa. pple. of conglomerāre: see next.]
A. adj.
1. Gathered together into a more or less rounded mass, or consisting of parts so gathered; clustered. Also fig. † a. as pa. pple. Obs.
| 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 118 b, Certain trees..bring forth fruit conglomerate with leaues. 1626 Bacon Sylva §267 The Beams of Light, when they are multiplied and conglomerate. |
b. as adj. (In mod. use often fig. from 4.)
| 1836 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 246/1 [Insects] have conglomerate or compound eyes. 1871 Palgrave Lyr. Poems 113 This close conglomerate English speech. 1872 Liddon Elem. Relig. ii. 42 All the positive religions in the world..are alike conglomerate formations. |
2. Phys. Applied to glands of a compound or complex structure; formerly, as distinguished from the simple conglobate glands of the lymphatics.
| 1665–6 Phil. Trans. I. 177. 1668 Ibid. III. 889 Concerning the Liver..finding it to have Lobes and to be a Glandul of that kind, which by Anatomists are called Conglomerate. 1785 Anat. Dial. (ed. 2) 43 A conglomerate gland is that which is composed of several little conglobate glands, all tied up together, in one common tunicle or membrane. 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 695 In the cartilaginous fishes..the pancreas exhibits a more perfect development, and already presents the appearance of a conglomerate gland. 1882 Syd. Soc. Lex., Conglomerate glands, a synonym of Acinous glands. |
3. Path. a. Applied to cartilaginous tumours in the neighbourhood of the parotid gland. b. Applied to certain compound Tubercles.
| 1870 Sir J. Paget Lect. Surg. Pathol. (ed. 3) 520 note, Mr. Cæsar Hawkins described them..as conglomerate tumours. 1876 tr. Ziemssen's Cycl. Med. V. 641 The tubercles are often aggregated in groups (Virchow's conglomerate tubercles). |
4. Geol. Composed of the fragments of pre-existing rocks cemented together; of the nature of or forming a conglomerate: see B. 1.
| 1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 225 The debris of pre-existing rocks broken down and cemented together, as in various conglomerate rocks. 1872 Baker Nile Tribut. xiii. 217 A perpendicular cliff of conglomerate rock formed of rounded pebbles cemented together. Ibid. xv. 253 A cliff of conglomerate pebbles. |
B. n. The adj. used absol. [Cf. mod.F. conglomérat.]
1. Geol. (= conglomerate rock.) A composite rock consisting of rounded and waterworn fragments of previously existing rocks, united into a compact mass by some kind of cement; often called pudding-stone. (Cf. breccia.)
| 1818 W. Phillips Outl. Min. & Geol. (1818) 145 When a sandstone contains rounded masses of considerable dimensions, it is termed a conglomerate. 1832 H. T. De la Beche Geol. Man. 219 Conglomerates alternating with greenish sandstone and variously coloured marls. 1880 Haughton Phys. Geog. v. 242 This shell conglomerate is largely burnt for lime. |
| attrib. 1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 255 The conglomerate hills extend through Ross-shire. |
b. transf.
| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxx. (1856) 259 Thus, dried apples became..a conglomerate of sliced chalcedony. 1856 ― Arct. Expl. I. xi. 116 A conglomerate of gravel and ice. |
2. fig. A mixture of various materials or elements, clustered together without assimilation.
| 1837 Whewell Hist. Induct. Sc. (1857) III. 399 The English language is a conglomerate of Latin words, bound together with a Saxon cement. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. I. i. 57 In that immense conglomerate of useful and useless knowledge. |
3. A large business group or industrial corporation resulting from the merging of originally separate and diverse commercial enterprises.
| 1967 Economist 11 Feb. 553/4 Textron Inc., a leading ‘conglomerate’—its 28 divisions sell everything from chickens to rocket engines. 1970 Daily Tel. 12 Mar. 9/1 Now there is scarcely an up-to-date conglomerate without a publishing operation embedded somewhere in its diversified mass. 1970 Sci. Amer. Mar. 31/2 A zaibatsu is similar to a U.S. conglomerate, which is also a group of unrelated companies under sophisticated financial management. |
▪ II. conglomerate, v.
(kənˈglɒməreɪt)
[f. L. conglomerāt- ppl. stem of conglomerā-re to roll, heap, or press together, f. con + glomerā-re to form into a ball, f. glomer- (glomus) ball.]
† 1. trans. To roll or wind (thread) into a ball.
| 1623 Cockeram, Conglomerate, to winde vp on bottomes. 1659 H. More Immort. Soul iii. xiii. (1662) 203 This suggests..the fancy..to the Silk-worm of conglomerating her both funeral and natal Clue. |
† 2. To form into a ball or (more or less) rounded mass; to heap up, heap together. ? Obs.
| 1596 R. L[inche] Diella (1877) 74 My sighes doe so conglomerate the cloudes. 1635 Swan Spec. M. v. ii. §11. 1650 J. Bulwer Anthropomet. ii. (1653) 71 Choakt up with..dust, conglomerated into dirt. 1674 Grew Anat. Plants iii. ii. iv. §2 The Viscera of an Animal, are but vessels conglomerated. |
| fig. 1767 A. Campbell Lexiph. (1774) 6 Consider well how I have conglomerated this atchievement of erudition. |
3. To collect (separate particles or elements) into a coherent mass. lit. and fig.
| a 1691, 1882 [see conglomerated]. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 502 Because the Nobility and Clergy are conglomerated into one mass with the People. 1865 F. Oakeley Tractar. Movement 77 To conglomerate and cement the various forms of Tractarianism into something like a consistent whole. |
4. intr. To come together or collect into a (more or less) rounded mass, or (transf.) into a compact body; to cluster together.
| 1642 Ord. & Declar. both Houses, Lords Day 7 They conglomerated and gathered together to the number of 20 or 25. 1656 S. Holland Zara (1719) 48 Such noise as Bees commonly make when they conglomerate. 1795 St. Papers in Ann. Reg. 189 Their armies have conglomerated. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 554 When put into boiling water it conglomerates into a resinous mass. |
Hence conglomerated ppl. a., clustered, etc.; spec. in Phys. and Geol. = conglomerate a. 2, 4.
| 1656 S. Holland Zara (1719) 79 My conglomerated Curses go with thee. a 1691 Boyle Wks. (1772) II. 81 (R.) Conglomerated shells. 1701 Grew Cosm. Sacra i. v. §21 The liver is one great conglomerated gland, composed of innumerable small glands. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict., Kidney, a Conglomerated Gland. 1816 Scott Bl. Dwarf vi, Watching the clouds as they lowered above each other in masses of conglomerated vapour. 1882 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. ii. i. §3 Conglomerated (conglomeratic), made up of well-rounded pebbles or rocks. |