digest

[ verb dih-jest, dahy-; noun dahy-jest ]

verb (used with object)

1. to convert (food) in the alimentary canal into absorbable form for assimilation into the system.
2. to promote the digestion of (food).
3. to obtain information, ideas, or principles from; assimilate mentally:

   to digest a pamphlet on nuclear waste.

4. to arrange methodically in the mind; think over:

   to digest a plan.

   Synonyms: ponder, study, understand

5. to bear with patience; endure.
6. to arrange in convenient or methodical order; reduce to a system; classify.

   Synonyms: codify, systematize

7. to condense, abridge, or summarize.
8. Chemistry. to soften or disintegrate (a substance) by means of moisture, heat, chemical action, or the like.

verb (used without object)

1. to digest food.
2. to undergo digestion, as food.

noun

1. a collection or compendium, usually of literary, historical, legal, or scientific matter, especially when classified or condensed.

   Synonyms: abridgment, epitome

2. Law.
   1. a systematic abstract of some body of law.
   2. the Digest, a collection in fifty books of excerpts, especially from the writings of the Classical Roman jurists, compiled by order of Justinian in the 6th century a.d.; the Pandects.
3. Biochemistry. the product of the action of an enzyme on food or other organic material.

digest

¹

verb

1. to subject (food) to a process of digestion
2. tr to assimilate mentally
3. chem to soften or disintegrate or be softened or disintegrated by the action of heat, moisture, or chemicals; decompose
4. tr to arrange in a methodical or systematic order; classify
5. tr to reduce to a summary
6. archaic.
   tr to tolerate

noun

1. a comprehensive and systematic compilation of information or material, often condensed
2. a magazine, periodical, etc, that summarizes news of current events
3. a compilation of rules of law based on decided cases

Digest

²

/ ˈdaɪdʒɛst /

noun

1. Roman law an arrangement of excerpts from the writings and opinions of eminent lawyers, contained in 50 books compiled by order of Justinian in the sixth century ad

Other Words From

• di·gested·ly adverb
• di·gested·ness noun
• half-di·gested adjective
• nondi·gesting adjective
• over·di·gest verb
• redi·gest verb (used with object)
• semi·di·gested adjective
• undi·gested adjective
• undi·gesting adjective
• well-di·gested adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of digest¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; (verb) Middle English digesten, from Latin dīgestus “separated, dissolved” (past participle of dīgerere ), equivalent to dī- di- ² + ges- “carry, bear” (base of gerere ) + -tus past participle suffix; (noun) Middle English: “collection of laws,” from Late Latin dīgesta (plural), Latin: “collection of writings,” neuter plural of dīgestus, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of digest¹

C14: from Late Latin dīgesta writings grouped under various heads, from Latin dīgerere to divide, from di- apart + gerere to bear

Synonym Study

See summary.

Example Sentences

Warfighting, its authors freely admitted, was essentially On War in digest form.

From The Daily Beast

It is this kind of abortion narrative that is easiest for people to digest, and there are many cases like this.

From The Daily Beast

Before you invoke images of a nation enjoying more indolence than industry, there is an uncomfortable statistic to digest.

From The Daily Beast

Other volunteers brought Southern Living, Outdoor Photographer, People, Golf Digest, and even a New Yorker.

From The Daily Beast

Food intolerance occurs when your body is unable to digest a certain component of a food, such as the protein called gluten.

From The Daily Beast

We are trying to digest the riffraff of the world, and can't do it, in spite of such incorrigible optimists as Judge Leslie.

From Project Gutenberg

Unlike those feathered Romans of the Decadence, we moderns settle for one meal at a sitting, and let it digest in peace.

From Project Gutenberg

No doubt, it is possible to thoroughly digest all the requisite material, and then present it in a perfect, beautiful form.

From Project Gutenberg

Of deeper interest was the act appointing a committee to make a digest of the laws, that they may be putt in print.

From Project Gutenberg

He paused to digest this impossibility, then chattered briskly on.

From Project Gutenberg