Nearby Words

syncretist

[sing-kri-tiz-uhm, sin-] Origin

syn·cre·tism

[sing-kri-tiz-uhm, sin-]
noun
1.
the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.
2.
Grammar. 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.

Origin:
1610–20; < Neo-Latin syncretismus < 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

syn·cret·ic [sin-kret-ik] , syn·cret·i·cal, syn·cre·tis·tic [sing-kri-tis-tik, sin-] , adjective
syn·cre·tist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Syncretist is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Collins
World English Dictionary
syncretism (ˈsɪŋkrɪˌtɪzəm)
 
n
1.  the tendency to syncretize
2.  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
 
[C17: from New Latin syncrētismus, from Greek sunkrētismos alliance of Cretans, from sunkrētizein to join forces (in the manner of the Cretan towns), from syn- + Krēs a Cretan]
 
syncretic
 
adj
 
syncre'tistic
 
adj
 
'syncretist
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

syncretism
"reconciliation of different beliefs," 1618, from Mod.L. syncretismus (David Pareus, 1615), from Gk. synkretismos "union of communities," from synkretizein "to combine against a common enemy," from syn- + srcond element of uncertain origin. One theory connects it with kretismos "lying," from kretizein
EXPAND
"to lie like a Cretan;" another connects it with the stem of kerannynai "to mix, blend;" krasis "mixture."
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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