Syncretism

"The religion of the Yazidis is a highly syncretistic one: Sufi influence and imagery can be seen in their religious vocabulary, especially in the terminology of their esoteric literature, but much of the mythology is non-Islamic, and their cosmogonies apparently have many points in common with those of ancient Iranian religions."
[Wikipedia entry on Yazidi*]

NOUN: 1. Reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous. 2. Linguistics The merging of two or more originally different inflectional forms.
ETYMOLOGY: Greek for union
OTHER FORMS: syn·cretic, syncre·tistic —ADJECTIVE, syncre·tist —NOUN
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