merger
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the joining of two or more companies to form one larger company.
the legal and financial union of two or more corporations into a single entity, where assets and liabilities are typically consolidated.
Simple“The merger of the two banks will create the largest financial group in the country.”
In context“Following months of intense negotiations, the board of directors finally approved the merger, citing significant potential for operational synergies and market expansion.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'between' or 'of'.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
the act of combining two or more parts into one single unit.
the process of merging distinct parts, elements, or groups into a unified whole.
Simple“The merger of different artistic styles created a unique and modern look for the building.”
In context“The proposed merger of the two departments met with resistance from staff who feared a loss of their specific professional identity.”
UsageCommonly used in academic or technical writing to describe the blending of abstract concepts.
Antonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
when two different sounds in a language become the same sound over time.
a sound change in which two or more phonemes that were previously distinct merge into a single phoneme.
Simple“In some accents, there is a merger between the sounds in 'cot' and 'caught'.”
In context“The historical merger of these two vowels in Middle English explains why many words that were once pronounced differently now rhyme perfectly.”
Synonymsphonetic convergenceAntonyms
“However, our galaxy wasn't always so large; it has grown by forming new stars from its gas clouds and collecting stars, gas and dark matter from other galaxies through mergers.”
“If a third black hole arrived during another galactic merger, the resulting three-body interaction could have expelled the smallest black hole from the center.”
From merge + -er.
From Anglo-Norman merger (verb used as noun).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.