conflate

Attested since 1541[1]: borrowed from Latin cōnflātus, from cōnflō (“fuse, melt, or blow together”); cōn (“with, together”) + flō (“blow”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kənˈfleɪt/, /kɒnˈfleɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kənˈfleɪt/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -eɪt

conflate (third-person singular simple present conflates, present participle conflating, simple past and past participle conflated)

1. To combine or mix together.

   Synonyms: mix, blend, coalesce, commingle, flux, immix, merge, amalgamate, fuse, meld

2. (by extension) To fail to properly distinguish or keep separate (things); to mistakenly treat (them) as equivalent.

   Synonyms: confuse, mix up, lump together

   “Bacon was Lord Chancellor of England and the first European to experiment with gunpowder.” — “No, you are conflating Francis Bacon and Roger Bacon.”

3. (by extension) To deliberately draw a false equivalence or association, typically in a tacit or implicit manner as propaganda and/or an intentional distortion or misrepresentation of the subject matter.

• conflatable
• conflation
• deconflate
• deconflation

conflate (not comparable)

1. (biblical criticism) Combining elements from multiple versions of the same text.
   • 1999, Emanuel Tov, The Greek and Hebrew Bible: Collected Essays on the Septuagint:

     Why the redactor created this conflate version, despite its inconsistencies, is a matter of conjecture.

conflate (plural conflates)

1. (biblical criticism) A conflate text, one which conflates multiple version of a text together.

• falconet, lactofen

cōnflāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of cōnflō