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amalgamate (verb) – 1. To combine into a unified or integrated whole; unite.
2. To mix or alloy (a metal) with mercury.

Source : The Free Dictionary

Etymology : The noun amalgam derives, by way of Middle French, from Medieval Latin amalgama. It was first used in the 15th century with the meaning “a mixture of mercury and another metal.” (Today, you are likely to encounter this sense in the field of dentistry; amalgams can be used for filling holes in teeth.) Use of amalgam broadened over time to include any mixture of elements, and by the 18th century the word was also being applied figuratively, as in “an amalgam of citizens.” The verb amalgamate has been in use since the latter half of the 1500s. It too can be used either technically, implying the creation of an alloy of mercury, or more generally for the formation of any compound or combined entity.

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A jury at the Auckland High Court has found Dr Philip Polkinghorne not guilty of killing his wife, Pauline Hanna, in their Remuera home in April 2021. 

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