dissimilation
Americannoun
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the act of making or becoming unlike.
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Phonetics. the process by which a speech sound becomes different from or less like a neighboring sound, as pilgrim from Latin peregrīnus and purple from Old English purpure or disappears entirely because of a like sound in another syllable, as in the pronunciation for governor.
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Biology. catabolism.
noun
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the act or an instance of making dissimilar
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phonetics the alteration or omission of a consonant as a result of being dissimilated
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biology a less common word for catabolism
Etymology
Origin of dissimilation
First recorded in 1820–30; dis- 1 + (as)similation
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The result has been widespread public furor over crime, cultural dissimilation and fears of terrorism.
From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 11, 2016
Old Fr. livel became by dissimilation nivel, now niveau.
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest
The Norse form versla shows later dissimilation of ss to rs.
From Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch by Flom, George Tobias
There is also separation and aggregation, assimilation and dissimilation, increase, diminution, equalization, a passage from motion to rest, and from rest to motion in the one and many.
From Parmenides by Jowett, Benjamin
Sometimes dissimilation leads to the disappearance of a consonant, e.g.,
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
