syncretism
noun
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The ancient Greeks used the term synkrētismos to refer to Cretan cities allied in opposition to a common enemy. In the early 17th century, English speakers adopted the term in the anglicized form syncretism to refer to the union of different religious beliefs. Three centuries later, lexicographers of the 1909 edition of Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language added a new definition of syncretism ("the union or fusion into one or two or more originally different inflectional forms, as of two cases"), but this specialized sense is rarely encountered outside of the field of linguistics. Some related terms that you are more likely to encounter are syncretize ("to attempt to unite and harmonize"), syncretist ("one who advocates syncretism"), and syncretic and syncretistic ("characterized or brought about by syncretism").
Examples of syncretism in a Sentence
Ana Karina Zatarain, New Yorker, 21 June 2025
Forbidden from openly worshiping their Orishas, enslaved Africans covertly prayed to these deities by linking them with Catholic saints in a practice known as syncretism.
—Essence, 10 Oct. 2024
An exaltation of the summers of his youth, Bad Bunny’s fourth album also serves as a crash course in Caribbean musical syncretism, in which elements of reggaetón, trap, house, and Dominican mambo are craftily shaken and stirred.
—Pitchfork, 1 Oct. 2024
The second was cultural, defining Indian society by the values of tolerance, pluralism, and syncretism.
—Milan Vaishnav, Foreign Affairs, 6 May 2019
The dances, which reflect Mexican syncretism, went on for hours.
—Chantal Flores, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2023
Their religion, Mexican syncretism, worships the forces of nature, the animals of the jungle, and the planets in the sky.
—Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 22 June 2023
The plan was to have a perfect society, one in which men and women were equal, art was celebrated, magic was part of reality, syncretism was accepted, and homosexuality was seen as perfectly normal.
—Gabino Iglesias, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Feb. 2023
Elliot & Erick added a new chapter to their creative journey, one made up of cultural syncretism and references to the great masters of the Renaissance.
—Vogue, 29 Nov. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Syncretism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syncretism. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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