ETYM Latin conglomeratus, p. p. of conglomerare to roll together; con- + glomerare to wind into a ball. Related to Glomerate.
Composed of heterogeneous elements gathered into a mass.

Geology, rock formed of rounded fragments; anything composed of particles from diverse source
A group of companies run as a single organization; SYN. empire.

In mineralogy, coarse clastic sedimentary rock, composed of rounded fragments (clasts) of pre-existing rocks cemented in a finer matrix, usually sand.
The fragments in conglomerates are pebble- to boulder-sized, and the rock can be regarded as the lithified equivalent of gravel. A bed of conglomerate is often associated with a break in a sequence of rock beds (an unconformity), where it marks the advance of the sea over an old eroded landscape. An oligomict conglomerate contains one type of pebble; a polymict conglomerate has a mixture of pebble types. If the rock fragments are angular, it is called a breccia.

Company that has a number of subsidiaries in a number of nonrelated markets. For example, British American Tobacco (BAT) is a conglomerate owning a tobacco company and a Californian insurance company. A conglomerate merger is a merger between two companies which produce unrelated products.

To gather into a ball or round body; to collect into a mass.