1. combination of different beliefs: the combination of different systems of philosophical or religious belief or practice
2. merging of different inflectional forms: the use of a single inflectional form of a word to cover functions previously covered by two separate forms, e.g. "spun" in English, now used for both the past tense and the past participle although the past tense used to be "span"
[Early 17th century. Via modern Latin syncretismus< Greek sugkrētismos "union" < sugkrētizein "unite (against a common enemy)"]
