assimilate

[ verb uh-sim-uh-leyt; noun uh-sim-uh-lit, -leyt ]
See synonyms for: assimilateassimilatedassimilating on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),as·sim·i·lat·ed, as·sim·i·lat·ing.
  1. to take in and incorporate as one's own; absorb: He assimilated many new experiences on his European trip.

  2. to bring into conformity with the customs, attitudes, etc., of a dominant social group, nation, or the like; adapt or adjust: to assimilate the new immigrants.

  1. Physiology. to convert (food) to substances suitable for incorporation into the body and its tissues.

  2. to cause to resemble (usually followed by to or with).

  3. to compare; liken (usually followed by to or with).

  4. Phonetics. to modify by assimilation.

verb (used without object),as·sim·i·lat·ed, as·sim·i·lat·ing.
  1. to be or become absorbed.

  2. to conform or adjust to the customs, attitudes, etc., of a dominant social group, nation, or the like: The new arrivals assimilated easily and quickly.

  1. Physiology. (of food) to be converted into the substance of the body; be absorbed into the system.

  2. to bear a resemblance (usually followed by to or with).

  3. Phonetics. to become modified by assimilation.

noun
  1. something that is assimilated.

Origin of assimilate

1
First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin assimilātus “likened to, made like” (past participle of assimilāre ), equivalent to as- as- + simil- (see similar) + -ātus -ate1

Other words from assimilate

  • as·sim·i·la·tor, noun
  • non·as·sim·i·lat·ing, adjective
  • re·as·sim·i·late, verb, re·as·sim·i·lat·ed, re·as·sim·i·lat·ing.
  • un·as·sim·i·lat·ed, adjective
  • un·as·sim·i·lat·ing, adjective
  • well-as·sim·i·lat·ed, adjective

Words Nearby assimilate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use assimilate in a sentence

  • But the Oriental we can't assimilate, for all our ostrich-like digestion, and what we can't assimilate we won't have.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • We assimilate anything white so quickly it is a wonder an immigrant remembers the native way of pronouncing his own name.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • At this moment he was in the act of despoiling both ancient and modern philosophy of all their wealth in order to assimilate it.

    Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z | Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
  • These gardens are rather like oriental flower-plots, but they assimilate well with the climate.

  • Poetry is unable, under pain of death or decay, to assimilate itself to morals or science.

    Charles Baudelaire, His Life | Thophile Gautier

British Dictionary definitions for assimilate

assimilate

/ (əˈsɪmɪˌleɪt) /


verb
  1. (tr) to learn (information, a procedure, etc) and understand it thoroughly

  2. (tr) to absorb (food) and incorporate it into the body tissues

  1. (intr) to become absorbed, incorporated, or learned and understood

  2. (usually foll by into or with) to bring or come into harmony; adjust or become adjusted: the new immigrants assimilated easily

  3. (usually foll by to or with) to become or cause to become similar

  4. (usually foll by to) phonetics to change (a consonant) or (of a consonant) to be changed into another under the influence of one adjacent to it: (n) often assimilates to ŋ before (k), as in ``include''

Origin of assimilate

1
C15: from Latin assimilāre to make one thing like another, from similis like, similar

Derived forms of assimilate

  • assimilable, adjective
  • assimilably, adverb
  • assimilation, noun
  • assimilative or assimilatory, adjective
  • assimilator, noun
  • assimilatively, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012