fusion

[fyoo-zhuh n] /ˈfyu ʒən/
noun
1.
the act or process of fusing; the state of being fused.
2.
that which is fused; the result of fusing:
A ballet production is the fusion of many talents.
3.
Politics.
  1. a coalition of parties or factions.
  2. (initial capital letter) the political party resulting from such a coalition.
4.
Also called nuclear fusion. Physics. a thermonuclear reaction in which nuclei of light atoms join to form nuclei of heavier atoms, as the combination of deuterium atoms to form helium atoms.
Compare fission (def 2).
5.
Ophthalmology.
  1. Also called binocular fusion. the correct blending of the images of both eyes.
  2. the perception of rapid, intermittent flashes of light as a continuous beam.
6.
popular music that is a blend of two styles, especially a combining of jazz with either rock, classical music, or such ethnic elements as Brazilian or Japanese music.
7.
Linguistics. the merging of linguistic elements, especially morphemes, usually accompanied by a change in the form of the elements.
adjective
8.
(of food or cooking) combining usually widely differing ethnic or regional ingredients, styles, or techniques:
a restaurant serving French-Thai fusion cuisine; a fusion menu.
Origin
1545-55: < Latin fūsiōn- (stem of fūsiō) a pouring out, melting. See fuse2, -ion
Related forms
fusional, adjective
nonfusion, noun
Can be confused
fission, fusion.
Examples from the web for fusion
  • The procedure had been planned for months, and involved a spinal fusion and a nerve decompression.
  • Maybe controlled fusion will at last emerge from decades of uncontrolled spending.
  • Worries that such fusion might occur during human stem-cell therapy are therefore premature.
  • fusion is the gaudiest of hopes, the fire of the stars in the human hearth.
  • Scientists have reported that by bombarding a liquid with sound they were able to produce nuclear fusion in a tabletop apparatus.
  • The primary line of evidence was the fusion of the skull bones.
  • Explosive devices based on fusion have been built for years.
  • As the centre's temperature rises to the point at which nuclear fusion can begin, the dust in the flattening disc coalesces.
  • In such heavy stars, radiation created by fusion in the core balances the pressure of the star's gravity.
  • Government review repeats cold fusion conclusions.
British Dictionary definitions for fusion

fusion

/ˈfjuːʒən/
noun
1.
the act or process of fusing or melting together; union
2.
the state of being fused
3.
something produced by fusing
4.
See nuclear fusion
5.
the merging of juxtaposed speech sounds, morphemes, or words
6.
a coalition of political parties or other groups, esp to support common candidates at an election
7.
a kind of popular music that is a blend of two or more styles, such as jazz and funk
8.
(psychol) the processing by the mind of elements falling on the two eyes so that they yield a single percept
9.
(modifier) relating to a style of cooking which combines traditional Western techniques and ingredients with those used in Eastern cuisine: fusion cuisine, fusion food
Word Origin
C16: from Latin fūsiō a pouring out, melting, casting, from fundere to pour out, found³
Word Origin and History for fusion
n.

1550s, from Middle French fusion, from Latin fusionem (nominative fusio) "an outpouring, effusion," noun of action from fusus, past participle of fundere "pour, melt" (see found (v.2)). In nuclear physics sense, first recorded 1947; in jazz sense, by 1972.

fusion in Medicine

fusion fu·sion (fyōō'zhən)
n.

  1. The act or procedure of liquefying or melting by the application of heat.

  2. The merging of different elements into a union, as of vertebrae.

  3. The mechanism by which both eyes blend slightly different images from each eye into a single image.

  4. The growing together of two or more teeth as a result of the abnormal union of their formative organs.

  5. A nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine to form more massive nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy.

fusion in Science
fusion
  (fy'zhən)   

  1. The joining together of atomic nuclei, especially hydrogen or other light nuclei, to form a heavier nucleus, especially a helium nucleus. Fusion occurs when plasmas are heated to extremely high temperatures, forcing the nuclei to collide at great speed. The resulting unstable nucleus emits one or more neutrons at very high speeds, releasing more energy than was required to fuse the nuclei, thereby making chain-reactions possible, since the reaction is exothermic. Fusion reactions are the source of the energy in the Sun and in other stars, and in hydrogen bombs. See also fission.

  2. A mixture or blend formed by fusing two or more things.


fusion in Technology


Software package supplied by Network Research Corporation claiming to connect various different configurations of LAN.

programming
A program transformation where a composition of two functions is replaced by in-lining them and combining their bodies. E.g.
f x = g (h x) ==> f x = g (2 * x) g x = x + 1 f x = 2 * x + 1 h x = 2 * x
This has the beneficial effect of reducing the number of function calls. It can be especially useful where the intermediate result is a large data structure which can be eliminated.
See also vertical loop combination.
(1994-12-05)