Assimilate

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /əˈsɪm.ɪ.leɪt/

Origin

From Latin assimulātus ("made similar, imitated"), perfect passive participle of assimulō, from ad + simulō ("imitate, copy").

Full definition of assimilate

Verb

1. To incorporate nutrients into the body after digestion.Food is assimilated and converted into organic tissue.
• Isaac NewtonHence also animals and vegetables may assimilate their nourishment.
2. To incorporate or absorb knowledge into the mind.The teacher paused in her lecture to allow the students to assimilate what she had said.
• MerivaleHis mind had no power to assimilate the lessons.
3. To absorb a group of people into a community.The aliens in the science-fiction film wanted to assimilate human beings into their own race.
4. To compare a thing to something similar.
5. To bring to a likeness or to conformity; to cause a resemblance between.
• John Brightto assimilate our law to the law of Scotland
• CowperFast falls a fleecy shower; the downy flakes
  Assimilate all objects.

Synonyms

• (To incorporate or absorb knowledge into the mind) process
• (absorb a group of people into a community) integrate