The Collaborative International Dictionary
Conflation \Con*fla"tion\, n. [L. conflatio.]
A blowing together, as of many instruments in a concert, or of many fires in a foundry. [R.]
--Bacon.a fusing together; merger of two or more things or ideas into one.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1620s, from Late Latin conflationem (nominative conflatio), noun of action from past participle stem of conflare (see conflate).
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context countable English) A blowing or fusing together, as of many instruments in a concert, or of many fires in a foundry. 2 (context countable English) A blend or fusion, especially a composite reading or text formed by combining the material of two or more texts into a single text.
Wikipedia
Conflation happens when the identities of two or more individuals, concepts, or places, sharing some characteristics of one another, seem to be a single identity, and the differences appear to become lost. In logic, it is the practice of treating two distinct concepts as if they were one, which produces errors or misunderstandings as a fusion of distinct subjects tends to obscure analysis of relationships which are emphasized by contrasts. However, if the distinctions between the two concepts appear to be superficial, intentional conflation may be desirable for the sake of conciseness and recall.
Conflation occurs when the identities of two or more individuals, concepts, or places, sharing some characteristics of one another, become confused until there seems to be only a single identity
Conflation may also refer to:
- Conflation of Readings, term used in Textual Criticism, for combined readings from two manuscripts with different textual variants
- In cartography, conflation refers to the act of combining two distinct maps into one new map. It is similar to the practice of image mosaicking. It is usually carried out by registration of an overlapping area. Conflation for digital maps refers to the process of associating real world coordinates to digital ones and it is named Map Matching
- In physics, conflation refers to two distinct universes being combined and fused into one new universe.
- In linguistics, conflation is a synonym for the process of stemming
Usage examples of "conflation".
At last he stopped beside a mausoleum grander than those around it: a ponderous conflation of white marble, carved into an exact replica of the Pendergast mansion itself.
If we look at Figure 3-1or at almost any of the other and similar holarchieswe notice immediately that there is a confusion and conflation of individual and social holons.
She'd turned a complete circle, taking in the strange conflation of creaky old buildings, chaotically jumbled wreckage, and new mega-structure with a childlike expression of awe.
Francis could not suppose that such massive marbling of old bones was a sweet conflation of ancient culture, modern coin, and self-apotheosizing.
In contrast, whistling thranx were often clearly amused by conflations that humans found nothing more than common coincidence.