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Agglomerate means to collect or gather into a cluster or mass, especially a messy or jumbled one.

As a verb, agglomerate is typically used in a passive way (as opposed to someone doing the agglomerating), as in Much of the garbage in the ocean has agglomerated into a giant floating mass.

The process of agglomerating is called agglomeration. Agglomeration can also refer to a messy cluster or jumbled collection of various elements. Agglomeration is often used to refer to groupings of miscellaneous things—such as various types of objects or even people—into a single (though often somewhat messy) unit. Agglomerate can also be used as a noun to mean the same thing.

The similar word conglomerate can be used in many of the same ways that agglomerate can, but it doesn’t doesn’t always imply a sense of messiness like agglomerate does. And conglomerate is most commonly used as a noun meaning a large corporation consisting of many companies.

Agglomerate can also be used as an adjective to describe things gathered together into a jumbled mass, as in My desk has become an agglomerate mess.

It can also be used in a few more specific ways. In botany, it’s used as an adjective to describe plant parts that are crowded into a dense cluster but not fully connected. In geology, it’s used as a noun referring to a type of rock composed of volcanic fragments.

Example: I forgot that the art project was due today, so my collage is really just an agglomerate of things I found around the house.

The first records of the word agglomerate come from the 1600s. It comes from the Latin ���������dz���������, from �����dz���������, meaning “to wind into a ball,” from glomus, meaning “ball” or “mass.”

As a noun, agglomerate refers to a mass of different things that have agglomerated together. A dish made from all the leftovers in the fridge could be called an agglomerate—especially when they don’t quite go together (though that quiche and meatball sandwich was pretty delicious). The United States is sometimes described as an agglomerate of different peoples from different places.

Agglomerate is perhaps more commonly used as a verb. When things agglomerate, they often get lumped together in one big jumble. This often happens through natural processes, such as flotsam agglomerating in the ocean or, slightly less naturally, stuff agglomerating in a big pile at the back of the closet.

What are some other forms related to agglomerate?

• agglomeration (noun)
• agglomerative (adjective)
• agglomerator (noun)

What are some synonyms for agglomerate?

• agglomeration (when agglomerate is used as a noun)
• cluster
• heap
• jumble
• mass
• pile
• gather
• collect

What are some words that share a root or word element with agglomerate?��

• conglomerate
• conglomeration

What are some words that often get used in discussing agglomerate?

• collection
• group
• messy
• jumbled
• element
• different

What are some words agglomerate may be commonly confused with?

• conglomeration

The word agglomerate typically involves a collection or mass of various things in a single unit. It often implies messiness, but this isn’t always negative.

Trend alert! "Everywhere you look, cubes, spheres, and pyramids are agglomerating, as if molecularly, into lamps, vases, and tables". Read the article and see examples of the recent design trend of stacking forms and shapes.

— ASID (@ASID)

Intriguing tidbit in this piece on China's rapidly agglomerating cities: when places are connected by high-speed rail, quantity & quality of academic papers by local researchers goes up by nearly 1/3

— Te-Ping Chen (@tepingchen)

volcanic vent agglomerate – basalt cobbles and boulders within messed up chalk. wonder!

— Mark Cooper (@CooperGeoNI)

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Which of the following words is NOT a synonym of agglomerate?

A. cluster
B. dissipate
C. jumble
D. mass