arch. [a. Fr. amalgame-r (14th c. in Littré); f. amalgame: see prec. Now repl. by AMALGAMATE v.]
† 1. trans. To soften by combination with mercury; to alloy with mercury. Obs.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Chan. Yem. Prol. & T., 218. The care and wo That we hadde in amalgamynge [v.r. almalgamynge, a malgamynge] and calcenynge of quyksilver.
1471. Ripley, Comp. Alch., in Ashm., Theatr. Chem., 1652, IX. 174. They Amalgam ther Bodys wyth Mercury lyke papp.
1610. B. Jonson, Alchem., II. iii. What is some three ounces Of gold, t’ Amalgame with some six of Mercury?
† 2. intr. To enter into combination with mercury.
1583. Plat, Jewel-ho., III. (1594), 79. If you put Mercurie therein it will amalgame with it.
a. 1691. Boyle, Wks., I. 638 (R.). Quicksilver easily amalgams with metals.
3. trans. To coat or cover with amalgam.
1789. Nicholson, Electr., in Phil. Trans., LXXIX. 272. I pasted a piece of leather upon a thin flat piece of wood, then amalgamed its whole surface.
4. fig. To combine.
1827. Hare, Guesses at Tr., II. 254. They transferred the intelligence to human forms instead of amalgaming it as we do with the material objects themselves.
