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assimilate

Pronunciation: /əˈsɪmɪleɪt/

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Definition of assimilate

verb

[with object]
  • 1take in and understand fully (information or ideas):Marie tried to assimilate the week’s events
  • absorb and integrate (people, ideas, or culture) into a wider society or culture:pop trends are assimilated into the mainstream with alarming speed
  • 2(of the body or any biological system) absorb and digest (food or nutrients): the sugars in the fruit are readily assimilated by the body
  • 3regard as similar; liken:philosophers had assimilated thought to perception
  • [no object] become similar:the Churches assimilated to a certain cultural norm
  • Phonetics make (a sound) more like another in the same or next word: the ‘v’ in ‘fivepence’ may be assimilated to a voiceless ‘f’ (because of the ‘p’)

Derivatives

assimilable

adjective

assimilation

Pronunciation: /-ˈleɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

assimilative

adjective

assimilator

noun

assimilatory

Pronunciation: /-lət(ə)ri/

adjective

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin assimilat- 'absorbed, incorporated', from the verb assimilare, from ad- 'to' + similis 'like'

assimilate in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of assimilate in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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