- the tendency to syncretize
- the historical tendency of languages to reduce their use of inflection, as in the development of Old English with all its case endings into Modern English
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
syn•cre•tism
(sing′kri tiz′əm, sin′-),USA pronunciation n.
syn•cret•ic
(sin kret′ik),USA pronunciation syn•cret′i•cal, syn•cre•tis•tic
(sing′kri tis′tik, sin′-),USA pronunciation adj.
syn′cre•tist, n.
- the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.
- Linguistics[Gram.]the merging, as by historical change in a language, of two or more categories in a specified environment into one, as, in nonstandard English, the use of was with both singular and plural subjects, while in standard English was is used with singular subjects (except for you in the second person singular) and were with plural subjects.
- Greek synkrētismós union of Cretans, i.e., a united front of two opposing parties against a common foe, derivative of synkrēt(ízein) to syncretize + -ismos -ism
- Neo-Latin syncretismus
- 1610–20;
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
syncretism /ˈsɪŋkrɪˌtɪzəm/ n
'syncretism' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):