assimilate Meaning, Definition & Usage

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

WordNet

As*sim"i*late transitive verb
Etymology
L. assimilatus, p. p. of assimilare; ad + similare to make like, similis like. See Similar, Assemble, Assimilate.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Assimilated present participle & verbal noun Assimilating
Definitions
  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 compae. 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.
As*sim"i*late intransitive verb
Definitions
  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 1913