merge English · revision 39882

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1636, W. Prynne|origins=ine-pro *mezg-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /mɜːd͡ʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /mɝd͡ʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|mergō|t=to dip, plunge, immerse]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024) and in its legal senses it came through the Law French infinitive [[m|xno|merger|t=to drown, sink]].^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(ODE 2010)^(Weekley 1921) The Latin verb is probably a rhotacized form of an older [[m|la|*mezgō]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) from [[ine-pro|*mezg-|t=to dip, sink, wash]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source also of [[sa|मज्जति|tr=májjati|t=dives, sinks]] and [[lt|mazgoti|t=to wash]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) The same Latin verb gave [[emerge]], [[immerse]] and [[submerge]].^(Ayto 2005)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To plunge or immerse oneself in an activity, way of life or surroundings: 1636, in William Prynne,^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MWU 2024) a sense the OED records only until 1751.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) From 1660 the verb also meant to plunge something into a liquid, a use that died out in the 19th century.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The modern meanings grew out of law.^(OED 2026)^(Cresswell 2021) From 1726 the verb was used of a lesser estate, title or right that is absorbed into a greater one and so ceases to exist,^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) while from 1728 it was used transitively, of causing it to be absorbed;^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995) Weekley compares other legal terms taken from Anglo-French infinitives, such as [[misnomer]] and [[rejoinder]].^(Weekley 1921) Generalized, the verb came to mean "to be swallowed up, lose one's identity in something else".^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) The commercial sense, to combine separate companies into one, is recorded from 1836 in Washington Irving,^(OED 2026) and Barnhart dates the business sense of the noun ''merger'' to 1889.^(Barnhart 1995) Ayto notes that the everyday meaning "to combine into one" was not fully established until the 20th century.^(Ayto 2005) Melville used ''merge into'' for a gradual change in 1849.^(OED 2026) Since 1924, first in North America, the verb was applied to lanes of traffic joining.^(OED 2026) The noun ''merge'', a merger, appeared in 1806, and the traffic noun in 1956.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1636 – to immerse oneself in an activity or way of life.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1660 – to plunge into a liquid.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1726 – (law) to be absorbed into a greater estate or title.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1728 – (law) to cause to be absorbed.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1806 – the noun, an act of merging.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1836 – to combine companies or organizations into one.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1849 – to change gradually into something.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1924 – of traffic, to join into fewer lanes.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1956 – the noun, a point where traffic merges.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[combine]] or be combined into a single whole, especially of [[business|alt=businesses]] or organizations: ''The two banks merged last spring.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To [[blend]] gradually into something else so that the boundary is lost: ''At dusk the hills merged into the sky.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Of [[traffic]], to join another stream of vehicles or lane.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(law)'' To absorb a lesser estate, right or title into a greater one, so that it ceases to exist.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of merging; a [[merger]].^(OED 2026)

+ # A point where lanes of traffic join.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mergence]]

+ * [[demerge]]

+ * [[mergee]]

+ * [[remerge]]

+ * [[unmerge]]

+ * [[merger]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[emerge]]

+ * [[immerse]]

+ * [[submerge]]

+ * [[merganser]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}