syncretism
sync·re·tism
noun
the union (or attempted fusion) of different systems of thought or belief (especially in religion or philosophy)
- “a syncretism of material and immaterial theories”
the fusion of originally different inflected forms (resulting in a reduction in the use of inflections)
Origin
From Latin syncretismus, from Ancient Greek συγκρητισμός (sunkrētismós, “federation of Cretan cities”), from συγκρητίζω (sunkrētízō, “to unite against a common enemy”), from σύν (sún, “together”) (see English syn-) + Κρῆτες (Krêtes, “Cretans”). By surface analysis, syn- + Crete + -ism (“Crete joining together”).
Related words
Word family
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.