cohesion

UK: /kəʊˈhiːʒ^ən/ US: /koʊˈhiʒən/ ,(kō hē′zhən)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

co•he•sion /koʊˈhiʒən/   n. [uncountable]

1. the act or state of cohering:
   social cohesion.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

co•he•sion  (kō hē′zhən), n. 

1. the act or state of cohering, uniting, or sticking together.
2. Physics the molecular force between particles within a body or substance that acts to unite them. Cf. adhesion (def. 4).
3. [Bot.] the congenital union of one part with another.
4. Linguistics the property of unity in a written text or a segment of spoken discourse that stems from links among its surface elements, as when words in one sentence are repeated in another, and esp. from the fact that some words or phrases depend for their interpretation upon material in preceding or following text, as in the sequence Be assured of this. Most people do not want to fight. However, they will do so when provoked, where this refers to the two sentences that follow, they refers back to most people, do so substitutes for the preceding verb fight, and however relates the clause that follows to the preceding sentence. Cf. coherence (def. 5).

• Latin cohaes- (variant stem of cohaerēre to cohere) + -iōn- -ion
• variant of cohaesion 1670–80

co•he′sion•less, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

cohesion / kəʊˈhiːʒən/ noun

1. the act or state of cohering; tendency to unite
2. the force that holds together the atoms or molecules in a solid or liquid, as distinguished from adhesion
3. the fusion in some plants of flower parts, such as petals, that are usually separate

Etymology: 17th Century: from Latin cohaesus stuck together, past participle of cohaerēre to cohere