assimilation

American  

[uh-sim-uh-ley-shuhn] / əˌsɪm əˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of assimilating, or of absorbing information, experiences, etc..

   the need for quick assimilation of the facts.

2. the state or condition of being assimilated, or of being absorbed into something.

3. the process of adopting the language and culture of a dominant social group or nation, or the state of being socially integrated into the culture of the dominant group in a society.

   assimilation of immigrants into American life.

4. Physiology. the conversion of absorbed food into the substance of the body.

5. Botany. the total process of plant nutrition, including photosynthesis and the absorption of raw materials.

6. Sociology. the merging of cultural traits from previously distinct cultural groups, not involving biological amalgamation.

7. Phonetics. the act or process by which a sound becomes identical with or similar to a neighboring sound in one or more defining characteristics, as place of articulation, voice or voicelessness, or manner of articulation, as in for grandpa.

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assimilation Scientific  

/ ə-sĭm′ə-lā′shən /

1. The conversion of nutrients into living tissue; constructive metabolism.

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assimilation Cultural  

1. The process by which a person or persons acquire the social and psychological characteristics of a group: “Waves of immigrants have been assimilated into the American culture.”

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Other Word Forms

• antiassimilation noun
• nonassimilation noun
• reassimilation noun

Etymology

Origin of assimilation

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin assimilātiōn- (stem of assimilātiō ). See assimilate, -ion

Example Sentences

At the same time, he believes Jewish assimilation is a fantasy, as improbable as the socialism that, he contends, revealed its true nature in the Russian Revolution.

From The Wall Street Journal

But a time jump, moving from a shtetl during World War I to 1930s Warsaw, pushes the film into more unexpected territory, as it encompasses issues of immigration, adoption and assimilation.

From The Wall Street Journal

He follows the establishment of the Catholic Church’s vast influence over law, politics and culture in the south, while the new nation’s protestant community almost disappeared through assimilation, migration and sometimes persecution.

From The Wall Street Journal

Thus, Coogler’s vampire story doubles as a parable about cultural appropriation and assimilation, one among many readings he incorporates into the movie.

From Salon

A Jewish museum could offer far more insight, including into Hanukkah’s origins, which may be relevant to the museum’s own meandering conceptual history, with its tensions between cultural assimilation and religious identity.

From The Wall Street Journal