Make Your Point > Archived Issues > AGGLOMERATE

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explore the archives: Agglomerate comes from Latin roots meaning "all wound up into a ball (of yarn)." That's a good image to keep in mind when we use this word! Let's recall some other words related to entanglements: From an Italian word for "tangle or confuse," we have imbr_____, meaning "complicated misunderstanding, or a complicated and confusing situation." From the name of a game that children play with string, we have c__'s c_____--two words--meaning "something so complicated, with so many interrelated parts, that it reminds you of a complex web of string." And from the history and legend surrounding Alexander the Great, we have Gor____ kn__, a two-word phrase meaning "any difficult, complex problem or situation, especially one that you can dodge entirely using force, sneakiness, or cleverness." Finally, some relief from all this knotty business: from Latin roots meaning "un(tying) a knot," we have de____ment, meaning "an unraveling: the part near the end of any story or situation when the main problem gets solved." make your point with... "AGGLOMERATE" When things agglomerate, they gather into one cluster that's often messy or disorganized. Pronunciation: uh GLOM uh rate Part of speech: Verb. It’s both transitive (you agglomerate things)  and intransitive (things agglomerate on their own). Other forms: Agglomerated, agglomerating, agglomerative, agglomeration(s). "Agglomerate," pronounced "uh GLOM uh rut," is both an adjective ("agglomerate cork," "agglomerate flowers," "agglomerate sentences") and a noun ("an agglomerate of things"). How to use it: This is a lively, sophisticated word. Its loudest syllable sounds, appropriately, like "glob." We see "agglomerate" in day-to-day contexts as well as scientific ones, like chemistry, botany, and geology. (You might guess that it's related to "glom," as in "He's trying to glom on to her talent," but nope--"glom" is a slangy term that derived from Scottish and is more about grabbing onto something than joining something in a cluster.) The intransitive verb is the most common. Talk about concrete and abstract things (or people) that agglomerate, or that agglomerate in or into something else: dust that agglomerates, or dust that agglomerates in tumbleweeds; millennials who agglomerate in hip cities; sounds and images that agglomerate into a poem or into an indistinguishable mess, etc. But "agglomerate" can also be transitive. That is, we agglomerate things: we agglomerate particles or pieces, we agglomerate events and memories, we agglomerate ideas and concepts, we agglomerate our very limited energies in a group meeting. How it's different from "conglomerate:" An agglomeration tends to be more random and less purposeful than a conglomeration. (For details, please check out Sven Yarg's discussion on the English Language & Usage Stack Exchange.) examples: At first, the book bothered me with its anything-goes structure as it zipped from one topic to the next, as though the author had simply agglomerated her thoughts and called it a day. In the past, earthquakes were sometimes blamed on God's fury over our tendency to agglomerate in towns. (Why that's a bad thing, I really don't know.) study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "agglomerate" means when you can explain it without saying "accumulate" or "gather into a messy collection." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "_____ is a (strange, unusual, sloppy, whimsical, etc.) agglomeration of _____." Concrete example: "The lamp's base is a whimsical agglomeration of seashells and sea glass." Abstract example: "The poem is a strange agglomeration of historical allusions and steampunk imagery." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is called "Cousins or Strangers?" Consider two pairs of similar-looking words, and figure out which pair are truly related, like cousins, and which pair are unrelated, like strangers. "Related," of course, is a relative concept (ha ha). We're interested in closeness: "compute" and "computer" are sisters, or variations of the same word; "vision" and "video" are cousins, sharing the same Latin root; but "compute" and "video" are strangers. From our previous issue: Pair A: ABJECT and OBJECT. These are the cousins, both based on the Latin iacere, meaning "to throw." Literally, something abject has been thrown away. And literally, to object is to throw something before someone, while an object, literally, is something thrown before you--you can detect it with your senses. Pair B: PEN and PENCIL. This blew my mind: these are the strangers. If you've read the kids' book Frindle by Andrew Clements then you know that "pen" comes from the Latin penna, meaning "a feather." But "pencil" is from the Latin penicillus, "little brush" or "little tail." Ready to check out two more pairs? Remember, one pair will be cousins; the other, strangers. Which is which? Pair A: VICE and ADVICE Pair B: MORTAL and MORTGAGE review today's word: 1. One opposite of AGGLOMERATE is A. GELATINIZE B. SCATTER C. UNITE 2. His chief talent lies in agglomeration: he's better at _____ than _____. A. speaking eloquently on the spur of the moment .. planning his speeches out B. executing other people's ideas .. coming up with them on his own C. assembling excellent teams .. contributing to them afterward Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. C