Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

assimilate

[verb uh-sim-uh-leyt; noun uh-sim-uh-lit, -leyt]
See more synonyms for assimilate 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 group, nation, or the like; adapt or adjust: to assimilate the new immigrants.
  3. Physiology. to convert (food) to substances suitable for incorporation into the body and its tissues.
  4. to cause to resemble (usually followed by to or with).
  5. to compare; liken (usually followed by to or with).
  6. Phonetics. to modify by assimilation.
Show More
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 group, nation, or the like: The new arrivals assimilated easily and quickly.
  3. Physiology. (of food) to be converted into the substance of the body; be absorbed into the system.
  4. to bear a resemblance (usually followed by to or with).
  5. Phonetics. to become modified by assimilation.
Show More
noun
  1. something that is assimilated.
Show More

Origin of assimilate

1570–80; < Latin assimilātus likened to, made like (past participle of assimilāre), equivalent to as- as- + simil- (see similar) + -ātus -ate1
Related formsas·sim·i·la·tor, nounnon·as·sim·i·lat·ing, adjectivere·as·sim·i·late, verb, re·as·sim·i·lat·ed, re·as·sim·i·lat·ing.un·as·sim·i·lat·ed, adjectiveun·as·sim·i·lat·ing, adjectivewell-as·sim·i·lat·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for assimilator

Historical Examples

  • His policy is not the policy of Rome the conqueror, but Rome the assimilator.

    The Outline of History: Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind

    Herbert George Wells

  • We are introduced successively to the Palestinian, the Assimilator, and the Neither-here-nor-there.

  • Goethe was an assimilator and summed up in himself the spirit of a century, the attitude of predecessors and contemporaries.

    Laurence Sterne in Germany

    Harvey Waterman Thayer

British Dictionary definitions for assimilator

assimilate

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
  3. (intr) to become absorbed, incorporated, or learned and understood
  4. (usually foll by into or with) to bring or come into harmony; adjust or become adjustedthe new immigrants assimilated easily
  5. (usually foll by to or with) to become or cause to become similar
  6. (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''
Show More
Derived Formsassimilable, adjectiveassimilably, adverbassimilation, nounassimilative or assimilatory, adjectiveassimilator, nounassimilatively, adverb

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for assimilator

assimilate

v.

early 15c., from Latin assimilatus "feigned, pretended, fictitious," past participle of assimilare "to make like," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + simulare "make similar," from similis "like, resembling" (see similar). Originally transitive (with to); intransitive use first recorded 1837. Related: Assimilated; assimilating.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
assimilator in Medicine

assimilate

(ə-sĭm′ə-lāt′)
v.
  1. To consume and incorporate nutrients into the body after digestion.
  2. To transform food into living tissue by the process of anabolism.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.