Adjacent Words

Assimilate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ASSIM'ILATE, v.t. [L. assimilo, of ad and similis, like. See Similar.]
1. To bring to a likeness; to cause to resemble.
2. To convert into a like substance; as, food is assimilated by conversion into animal substances, flesh, chyle, blood, etc.
ASSIM'ILATE, v.i.
1. To become similar.
2. To be converted into a like substance.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: take up mentally; "he absorbed the knowledge or beliefs of his tribe" [syn: absorb, assimilate, ingest, take in]
2: become similar to one's environment; "Immigrants often want to assimilate quickly" [ant: dissimilate]
3: make similar; "This country assimilates immigrants very quickly" [ant: dissimilate]
4: take (gas, light or heat) into a solution [syn: assimilate, imbibe]
5: become similar in sound; "The nasal assimilates to the following consonant" [ant: dissimilate]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (-lated; -lating) Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin assimilatus, past participle of assimilare, from Latin assimulare to make similar, from ad- + simulare to make similar, simulate Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. a. to take in and utilize as nourishment ; absorb into the system b. to take into the mind and thoroughly comprehend 2. a. to make similar b. to alter by assimilation c. to absorb into the culture or mores of a population or group 3. compare, liken intransitive verb to become assimilated • assimilator noun Usage: When assimilate is followed by a preposition, transitive senses 2a and 2c commonly take to and into and less frequently with; 2b regularly takes to; sense 3 most often takes to and sometimes with. The most frequent prepositions used with the intransitive sense are to and into. II. noun Date: 1935 something that is assimilated

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. a absorb and digest (food etc.) into the body. b absorb (information etc.) into the mind. c absorb (people) into a larger group. 2 tr. (usu. foll. by to, with) make like; cause to resemble. 3 tr. Phonet. make (a sound) more like another in the same or next word. 4 intr. be absorbed into the body, mind, or a larger group. Derivatives: assimilable adj. assimilation n. assimilative adj. assimilator n. assimilatory adj. Etymology: ME f. L assimilare (as AD-, similis like)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Assimilate As*sim"i*late, v. i. 1. To become similar or like something else. [R.] 2. To change and appropriate nourishment so as to make it a part of the substance of the assimilating body. Aliment easily assimilated or turned into blood. --Arbuthnot. 3. To be converted into the substance of the assimilating body; to become incorporated; as, some kinds of food assimilate more readily than others. I am a foreign material, and cannot assimilate with the church of England. --J. H. Newman.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Assimilate As*sim"i*late, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assimilated; p. pr. & vb. n. Assimilating.] [L. assimilatus, p. p. of assimilare; ad + similare to make like, similis like. See Similar, Assemble, Assimilate.] 1. To bring to a likeness or to conformity; to cause a resemblance between. --Sir M. Hale. To assimilate our law to the law of Scotland. --John Bright. Fast falls a fleecy; the downy flakes Assimilate all objects. --Cowper. 2. To liken; to compa?e. [R.] 3. To appropriate and transform or incorporate into the substance of the assimilating body; to absorb or appropriate, as nourishment; as, food is assimilated and converted into organic tissue. Hence also animals and vegetables may assimilate their nourishment. --Sir I. Newton. His mind had no power to assimilate the lessons. --Merivale.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(assimilates, assimilating, assimilated) 1. When people such as immigrants assimilate into a community or when that community assimilates them, they become an accepted part of it. There is every sign that new Asian-Americans are just as willing to assimilate... His family tried to assimilate into the white and Hispanic communities... The Vietnamese are trying to assimilate themselves and become Americans... = integrate VERB: V, V into/with n, V pron-refl • assimilation They promote social integration and assimilation of minority ethnic groups into the culture. = integration N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n 2. If you assimilate new ideas, techniques, or information, you learn them or adopt them. I was speechless, still trying to assimilate the enormity of what he'd told me. = absorb VERB: V n • assimilation This technique brings life to instruction and eases assimilation of knowledge. N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Make like, bring into resemblance. 2. Digest, turn to one's own substance, take into the organism, thoroughly appropriate, absorb into the system, incorporate, make part and parcel of one's being.

Moby Thesaurus

Americanize, Anglicize, ablate, absorb, accommodate, accommodate with, accord, acculturate, acculturize, adapt, adapt to, add, adjust, adjust to, admit, adopt, adsorb, affiliate, agree with, amalgamate, analogize, appreciate, apprehend, appropriate, approximate, assimilate, assimilate to, attune, balance, be guided by, be with one, become, bend, bleed white, blend, blot, blot up, bring into analogy, bring into comparison, bring near, bring to, burn up, catch, catch on, change, change into, change over, chemisorb, chemosorb, chime in with, coalesce, combine, come together, compare, compare and contrast, compare with, complete, comply, comply with, compose, compound, comprehend, comprise, conceive, confer citizenship, conform, confront, connaturalize, connect, consolidate, consume, contain, contrast, convert, coordinate, corner, correct, correspond, count in, counterpose, cover, cut to, damp, deplete, dig, digest, discipline, do over, drain, drain of resources, draw a comparison, draw a parallel, drink, drink in, drink up, eat, eat up, embody, embrace, encircle, enclose, encompass, engross, envisage, equalize, equilibrize, erode, espouse, even, exhaust, expend, fall in with, fathom, fill, fill in, fill out, filter in, finish, finish off, fit, fix, flatten, flux, follow, fuse, gear to, get, get hold of, get the drift, get the idea, get the picture, go by, go native, gobble, gobble up, grasp, harmonize, have, have it taped, hold, homogenize, homologate, homologize, imbibe, imbue, impoverish, include, incorporate, infiltrate, infuse, ingest, ingrain, inoculate, integrate, interblend, interfuse, join, ken, key to, know, learn, leaven, level, liken, liken to, lump together, make, make conform, make one, make over, make plumb, make uniform, master, match, measure, measure against, meet, meld, melt into one, merge, metabolize, metaphorize, mix, mold, monopolize, naturalize, normalize, number among, observe, occupy, oppose, osmose, paragon, parallel, percolate in, place against, predigest, proportion, put in tune, put together, read, realize, receive, reckon among, reckon in, reckon with, reconcile, reconvert, rectify, reduce to, reembody, regularize, regulate, relate, render, resolve into, reverse, right, roll into one, rub off corners, run a comparison, savvy, seep in, seize, seize the meaning, sense, set, set in contrast, set in opposition, set off against, set over against, set right, settle, shade into, shape, shift, similarize, similize, slurp up, smooth, soak in, soak up, solidify, sorb, spend, sponge, squander, stabilize, standardize, stereotype, straighten, suck dry, suffuse, suit, swallow, swallow up, swill up, switch, switch over, symmetrize, sync, synchronize, syncretize, syndicate, synthesize, tailor, take, take in, take into account, take into consideration, take up, tally with, transform, trim to, true, true up, tune, turn back, turn into, understand, uniformize, unify, unite, use up, view together, waste away, wear away, weigh, weigh against, yield