mixture

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmɪkst͡ʃɚ/; /ˈmɪkstʃə/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French misture, French mixture, and directly borrowed from Latin mixtura (“a mixing”), mistura,^[2][3][4][5] from mixtus, the past participle of miscēre (“to mix”) (see mix), from PIE Proto-Indo-European *meik- (“to mix”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which results from mixing: the early 15th century in Etymonline;^[2] the act of mixing, or the state of being mixed, the mid-15th century.^[2] The earlier word for both was mixtion (late 14th century).^[2]

Semantic evolution

A product made by mixing with stated components is from 1460–70.^[6] The process of mixing is from 1530,^[6] and a mixed state or coexistence of different elements from 1597.^[6] An obsolete sense, sexual intercourse, is from 1483,^[6] and social mixing, also obsolete, from 1764.^[6] In chemistry, a mixture is a combination of substances not chemically united, as opposed to a compound.^[7][8]

Timeline

• early 15th century – that which results from mixing.^[2]
• 1460 – a mixed product.^[6]
• 1530 – the process of mixing.^[6]
• 1597 – a mixed state.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A substance or thing made by mixing other things.
2. A combination of different qualities or things: a mixture of hope and fear.
3. (chemistry) A combination of substances that are not chemically bonded.
4. The process of mixing or the state of being mixed.

Word family

• admixture
• commixture
• intermixture
• Bordeaux mixture
• Brompton mixture

Related words

• mix
• mixer
• mixed
• miscellaneous
• promiscuous
• meddle

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins