English Reference
noun

aggregation

n.
US /ˌæɡɹəˈɡeɪʃən/ UK /ˌæɡɹɪɡˈeɪʃən/ ag·gre·ga·tion UK spelling aggregations

  1. 01 C1 Advanced Academic

    the act of gathering different things together into one group or total.

    the process of collecting or gathering separate parts into a single mass, sum, or whole.

    Simple

    The aggregation of data from different websites helps us compare prices easily.

    In context

    The aggregation of individual consumer preferences into a single market trend requires sophisticated statistical modelling.

    Usage

    Often used as an uncountable noun when referring to the process itself.

  2. 02 C1 Advanced Academic

    a group of things that have been collected together.

    a collection of particulars or individuals considered as a single unit or aggregate.

    Simple

    The crowd was just a large aggregation of people waiting for the bus.

    In context

    The final report was an aggregation of various studies conducted over the last decade.

    Usage

    Commonly used as a countable noun in this sense.

  3. 03 C2 Proficiency Technical Computing

    a way to organize data where one object contains other objects but does not own them.

    a specific type of object composition in software engineering where one object contains others without implying exclusive ownership.

    Simple

    In this software design, the department is an aggregation of several employees.

    In context

    The developer chose aggregation over inheritance to ensure that the child objects could exist independently of the parent container.

    Usage

    Used specifically in object-oriented programming contexts.

  4. 04 C2 Proficiency Technical Computing

    combining different parts of a sentence to make it shorter and clearer.

    a component of natural language generation involving the combination of multiple syntactic elements into a single structure.

    Simple

    Aggregation helps a computer turn two short sentences into one longer, natural sentence.

    In context

    Without effective aggregation, the generated text would appear repetitive and lack the cohesive flow of human speech.

    Teacher's tip

    This is a highly specialized term in computational linguistics; general learners will rarely encounter it.

Synthetic foldamers offer larger surfaces that can engage these difficult targets and disrupt the abnormal protein interactions that lead to toxic aggregation.

The Conversation· 31 Jul 2026

From Latin aggregātiō, from aggregō (“aggregate”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Latin aggregātiō
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Frequent
Updated