Make Your Point > Archived Issues > COALESCE
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pronounce
COALESCE:
Say it "ko uh LESS."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
When things coalesce, they fuse, combine, or join together. They grow together.
We're very familiar with that prefix co-, meaning "together." And we've seen some traces of that Latin verb alescere before, the one that means "to grow." It showed up in our words juv_____nt ("growing more youthful") and sen_____ce ("old age, or the process of growing old").
Can you recall both?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
The word "coalesce" has Latin roots that mean "to be nourished together," or more loosely, "to grow up together."
When things coalesce, they join, merge, or combine into one. In other words, to coalesce is to unite.
That's the meaning we use most of the time. But occasionally, when we talk about thoughts, feelings, or other invisible things coalescing, we mean they're becoming real, becoming solid, or becoming well-defined, as if their separate little pieces are clumping into a more understandable whole. In other words, to coalesce can also mean to become clear, real, and easy to notice.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech: verb, usually the intransitive kind: "this coalesced with that," "the two things coalesced," "the three groups coalesced into one," "all these members coalesced around this issue."
Other common forms:
There's "coalesced" and "coalescing." And if you need an adjective, "coalescent."
A "coalition" is a group made up of different parts that, naturally, have coalesced.
That noun, "coalition," often refers to corporate or political groups. When you need to describe, instead, things that have coalesced in a biological way, or a figurative way, call them a "coalescence."
how to use it:
This word has a positive tone and a beautiful Latin sound.
We use it in fields like botany, zoology, politics, and business, but it's great for general conversation, too. Especially when you need to express your idea in a formal, serious, graceful way.
Talk about separate things coalescing, or about things coalescing into some whole, or about things coalescing around some shared, important part or goal.
examples:
"A Level Three Awkward Silence began to coalesce around us, like interstellar hydrogen pulled together by gravity to form a new nebula."
— Adib Khorram, Darius the Great Is Not Okay, 2018
"Zion [Williamson] and his Pelicans are coalescing into something truly special. Williamson is the future of the NBA, and so are the Pelicans."
— Oliver Connolly, The Guardian, 21 June 2019
has this page helped you understand "coalesce"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "coalesce" without saying "to fuse" or "to consolidate."
try it out:
Describing a character from a movie, Adrian Horton wrote this in The Guardian:
"Her malaise coalesces into purpose."
In other words, the character starts out with this vague, hazy sense of unease or worry or discomfort--and then those feelings coalesce into purpose. They take the clear, solid form of a goal.
I think we can all identify with that character! Talk about a time when your own malaise coalesced into purpose. That is, when did your sense of worry, unease, or discomfort transform into a solid plan, goal, or sense of purpose?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Last month, our game was "Recollections." From the previous issue:
"He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake."
Those words appear in the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost.
If you'd like to review any of the words from the puzzle, give them a click: sagacious, palette, laconic, palliate, tamp, gallivanting, talisman, cagey, waterloo, magnanimous, obsequious, edifice, salient, baseline, factional, keynote, watchword, raillery, debacle, quaver, gale, natter, illustrious, abstain, imbroglio.
Next up, our game for May: "Caption These!"
In each issue this month, caption the images below (A, B, and C) by matching them to the vocabulary words they illustrate (1, 2, and 3). Need a closer look? Give the images a click. And, if you can, explain the exact meaning of each word. I'll share the answers in the following issue. Good luck!
Try these today:
1: sluice
2: knolling
3: roi soleil
review this word:
1. Some opposites of COALESCE are
A. ERR and ABERRATE.
B. BLUR and DISPERSE.
C. SKEW and MANIPULATE.
2. A writer for The Verge predicts that the electric bike industry "will coalesce _____ a few winners"--that is, he thinks a few winning brands will edge out the hundreds of losing ones.
A. as
B. before
C. around
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
When things coalesce, they fuse, combine, or join together. They grow together.
The word "coalesce" has Latin roots that mean "to be nourished together," or more loosely, "to grow up together."
Part of speech: verb, usually the intransitive kind: "this coalesced with that," "the two things coalesced," "the three groups coalesced into one," "all these members coalesced around this issue."
This word has a positive tone and a beautiful Latin sound.
"A Level Three Awkward Silence began to coalesce around us, like interstellar hydrogen pulled together by gravity to form a new nebula."
Explain the meaning of "coalesce" without saying "to fuse" or "to consolidate."
Describing a character from a movie, Adrian Horton wrote this in The Guardian:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
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