v.
- take in and fully understand (information or ideas).
▸(of a society or culture) absorb and integrate (people, ideas, or culture).
- absorb and digest (food or nutrients).
- regard as or become similar.
- Phonetics make (a sound) more like another in the same or next word.
Derivative
- assimilable adj.
- assimilation n.
- assimilative adj.
- assimilator n.
- assimilatory adj.
Etymology
ME: from L. assimilat-, assimilare ‘absorb, incorporate’, from ad- ‘to’ + similis ‘like’.