Definition of Assimilation

1. Noun. The state of being assimilated; people of different backgrounds come to see themselves as part of a larger national family.

Generic synonyms: Relationship
Derivative terms: Assimilate, Assimilate

2. Noun. The social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another.

3. Noun. The process of absorbing nutrients into the body after digestion.
Exact synonyms: Absorption
Specialized synonyms: Anabolism, Constructive Metabolism, Malabsorption
Generic synonyms: Biological Process, Organic Process
Derivative terms: Assimilate

4. Noun. A linguistic process by which a sound becomes similar to an adjacent sound.
Generic synonyms: Linguistic Process
Derivative terms: Assimilate

5. Noun. The process of assimilating new ideas into an existing cognitive structure.
Exact synonyms: Acculturation
Generic synonyms: Education
Derivative terms: Acculturational, Assimilate

6. Noun. In the theories of Jean Piaget: the application of a general schema to a particular instance.
Generic synonyms: Developmental Learning
Derivative terms: Assimilate

Definition of Assimilation

1. n. The act or process of assimilating or bringing to a resemblance, likeness, or identity; also, the state of being so assimilated; as, the assimilation of one sound to another.

Definition of Assimilation

1. Noun. The act of assimilating or the state of being assimilated. ¹

2. Noun. The metabolic conversion of nutrients into tissue. ¹

3. Noun. (context: by extension) The absorption of new ideas into an existing cognitive structure. ¹

4. Noun. (phonology) A sound change process by which the phonetics of a speech segment becomes more like that of another segment in a word (or at a word boundary), so that a change of phoneme occurs. ¹

5. Noun. (sociology) (context: cultural studies) The adoption, by a minority group, of the customs and attitudes of the dominant culture. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Assimilation

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Assimilation

1. 1. The act or process of assimilating or bringing to a resemblance, likeness, or identity; also, the state of being so assimilated; as, the assimilation of one sound to another. "To aspire to an assimilation with God." (Dr. H. More) "The assimilation of gases and vapors." (Sir J. Herschel) 2. The conversion of nutriment into the fluid or solid substance of the body, by the processes of digestion and absorption, whether in plants or animals. "Not conversing the body, not repairing it by assimilation, but preserving it by ventilation." (Sir T. Browne) The term assimilation has been limited by some to the final process by which the nutritive matter of the blood is converted into the substance of the tissues and organs. Origin: L. Assimilatio: cf. F. Assimilation. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Literary usage of Assimilation

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London by Royal Society (Great Britain) (1904)
"On the Effect of Temperature on Carbon-Dioxide Assimilation. ... The CDs-assimilation of single cherry-laurel leaves has been determined through a range of ..."

2. Strasburger's Text-book of Botany by Eduard Strasburger, Hans Fitting (1921)
"A quite distinct method of quantitatively determining the assimilation of ... Nothing is known at present of the products of carbon assimilation in these ..."

3. Report of the Annual Meeting (1900)
"The amount of C02 assimilation which took place was gauged by the starch accumulation. In distilled water only a very small amount of starch was formed, ..."

4. The Latin Language: An Historical Account of Latin Sounds, Stems and Flexions by Wallace Martin Lindsay (1894)
"(see this chapter passim i. § 159. Assimilation of Consonants. The loss of a consonant in a group is often really due to assimilation. ..."

5. Our Slavic Fellow Citizens by Emily Greene Balch (1910)
"The shout of "Islam or the sword," wrought probably the most rapid assimilation on record. Modern de- It is a commonplace of history that while the consti- ..."

6. Bulletin by United States Weather Bureau (1905)
"By assimilation, as shown by Garreau, these same leaves in the sunshine absorb carbonic-acid gas from the air and set free oxygen, retaining the carbon in ..."

7. Botanical Gazette by University of Chicago, JSTOR (Organization) (1918)
"In 1914 the writer began an investigation of the assimilation of organic compounds by the mosses. Circumstances made it impossible to complete the ..."

8. The Monist by Hegeler Institute (1898)
"Assimilation AND HEREDITY. THE PROBLEM of the transformation of dead matter into living matter is continually being solved by each living cell. ..."

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