conflate

con·flate

 (kən-flāt′)

tr.v. con·flat·ed, con·flat·ing, con·flates

1. To bring together; meld or fuse: "The problems [with the biopic] include ... dates moved around, lovers deleted, many characters conflated into one" (Ty Burr).

2. To combine (two variant texts, for example) into one whole.

3. To fail to distinguish between; confuse. See Usage Note below.

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[Latin cōnflāre, cōnflāt- : com-, com- + flāre, to blow; see bhlē- in Indo-European roots.]

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con·fla′tion n.

Usage Note: Traditionally, conflate means "To bring together; meld or fuse," as in the sentence I have trouble differentiating Jane Austen's heroines; I realized I had conflated Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse into a single character in my mind. In our 2015 survey, 87 percent of the Usage Panelists accepted this traditional usage. Recently, a new sense for conflate has emerged, meaning "To mistake one thing for another," as if it were a synonym for confuse. In 2015, our usage panelists found this new sense to be marginally acceptable, with 55 percent accepting the sentence People often conflate the national debt with the federal deficit; when the senator talked about reducing the debt, he was actually referring to the deficit.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

conflate

(kənˈfleɪt)

vb

(tr) to combine or blend (two things, esp two versions of a text) so as to form a whole

[C16: from Latin conflāre to blow together, from flāre to blow]

conˈflation n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

con•flate

(kənˈfleɪt)

v.t. -flat•ed, -flat•ing.

to fuse into one entity; merge; combine.

[1600–10; < Latin conflāre to blow on, melt down]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

conflate

Past participle: conflated
Gerund: conflating

Imperative

conflate

conflate

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Thesaurus

Verb

1.

conflate - mix together different elements; "The colors blend well" coalesce, fuse, immix, mix, merge, commingle, flux, blend, meld, combine change integrity - change in physical make-up gauge - mix in specific proportions; "gauge plaster" absorb - cause to become one with; "The sales tax is absorbed into the state income tax" meld, melt - lose its distinct outline or shape; blend gradually; "Hundreds of actors were melting into the scene" mix in, blend in - cause (something) to be mixed with (something else); "At this stage of making the cake, blend in the nuts" accrete - grow together (of plants and organs); "After many years the rose bushes grew together" conjugate - unite chemically so that the product is easily broken down into the original compounds admix - mix or blend; "Hyaline casts were admixed with neutrophils" alloy - make an alloy of syncretise, syncretize - become fused

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

Translations

conflate

[kənˈfleɪt] VT → combinar

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

conflate

vt → zusammenfassen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007