syncretic

comparative more syncretic · superlative most syncretic

1. Combining disparate elements in one system, especially as in forms of religious observance, philosophical systems, or artistic creations.

   To cite another obvious case, there can be few things more syncretic than Roman Catholic canon law, where the doctrine of a Galilean peasant was built into Roman imperial legality.

   2013, Néstor O. Míguez, “1: The Nomadismo of the Popular and the Religious”, in Emily Everett, transl., edited by Joerg Rieger, Across Borders: Latin Perspectives in the Americas Reshaping Religion, Theology, and Life, Lexington Books, page 43

   2 more examples

   In Islamic villages below Tengger, however, more syncretic communities still celebrate annual village ritual festivals (slametan desa, slametan tuyo) designed to give homage to the spirits of the mountains and insure the flow of their waters.

   1985, Robert W. Hefner, “Hindu Javanese: Tengger Tradition and Islam”, in Paperback, Princeton University Press, published 1989, page 58

   1999, John B. Henderson, Imagining Boundaries: Changing Confucian Doctrines, Texts, and Hermeneutics, Kai-wing Chow, On Cho Ng, John B. Henderson (editors), Imagining Boundaries: Changing Confucian Doctrines, Texts, and Hermeneutics, State University of New York Press, page 112, From the point of view of many late Ming and Ch'ing scholars, the most syncretic, as well as the most threatening heretic of all was a nominal Confucian, Wang Yang-ming (1472-1528).