The act of blending or merging two different things together into one, often causing them to lose their individual identities.
From Latin conflatus, past participle of conflagre meaning 'to kindle together,' from con- (together) + flare (to blow). The meaning shifted from 'burning together' to 'blending together' in general.
Conflation is why many people think Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were friends or that Frankenstein is the monster's name—our brains naturally blend similar memories and stories together, and language does the same thing with similar words or ideas.
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