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dissimilate

Pronunciation: /dɪˈsɪmɪleɪt/
Definition of dissimilate

verb

[with object] Linguistics
  • change (a sound or sounds in a word) to another when the word originally had identical sounds near each other (e.g. in taper, which derives from papyrus, the p is dissimilated to t).
  • [no object] (of a sound) undergo the process of dissimilation:the first ‘r’ dissimilates to ‘l’

Derivatives

dissimilation

noun

dissimilatory

Pronunciation: /dɪˈsɪmɪlət(ə)ri/
adjective

Origin:

mid 19th century: from dis- (expressing reversal) + Latin similis 'like, similar', on the pattern of assimilate

dissimilate in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of dissimilate in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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