[ 'sɪŋkrɪtɪz(ə)m ]
■ noun
1》 the amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.
2》 Linguistics the merging of different inflectional varieties of a word during the development of a language.
Derivatives
syncretic adjective
syncretist noun & adjective
syncretistic adjective
Origin
C17: from mod. L. ~us , from Gk sunkrētismos , from sunkrētizein 'unite against a third party', from sun- 'together' + krēs 'Cretan' (orig. with ref. to ancient Cretan communities).