agregation

Aggregation is the process of combining multiple elements into a single whole. The term appears in various disciplines and often carries a sense of bringing together component parts without necessarily altering their identities. In English, aggregation derives from Latin aggregare, meaning to collect or bring together. The word can describe a concrete material, a conceptual grouping, or a computational operation.

In the natural sciences, aggregation has several specific meanings: In chemistry, particle aggregation refers to the clumping together of molecules or colloidal particles, which can affect the properties of suspensions and solutions. In geology and civil engineering, an aggregate is a material such as sand, gravel, or crushed stone used as a filler in concrete and roads. In biology and ecology, aggregation can describe organisms forming groups, from microbial colonies to animal flocks, or cells coming together to form tissues or biofilms.

In information technology and data science, aggregation denotes summarizing data from multiple records or sources. Aggregation functions such as sum, average, max, and count are common in databases and analytics. In distributed computing, data aggregation reduces volume by combining values before processing. In networking, link aggregation (also known as port-channeling) bonds several physical links to act as one logical link for higher throughput and resilience.

In social sciences and economics, aggregation refers to combining individual preferences, measurements, or outcomes to analyze population-level patterns. It also appears in surveys, where aggregated indicators describe overall trends rather than individual responses. The term is widely used across fields, and its precise meaning depends on context.