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
As the brain mediates between sensation and motion, so the vascular system is the go-between of the organs of assimilation and the organs of dissimilation.
From Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology by E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
High Ger. klobe-louch, clove-leek, by dissimilation of one l.
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest
The modified or positive response in nerve is thus held to be due to assimilation; after continuous stimulation, this process is supposed to be transformed into one of dissimilation, with the attendant negative response.
From Response in the Living and Non-Living by Bose, Jagadis Chandra, Sir
A number of occupative names have lost the last syllable by dissimilation, e.g.
From The Romance of Names 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.
