assimilate

Verb
Synonyms: absorbingesttake inimbibe

WordNet 3.0

Verb (5)

  1. take up mentally“he absorbed the knowledge or beliefs of his tribe”Synonyms: absorbingesttake in
  2. become similar to one's environment“Immigrants often want to assimilate quickly”
  3. make similar“This country assimilates immigrants very quickly”
  4. take (gas, light or heat) into a solutionSynonyms: imbibe
  5. become similar in sound“The nasal assimilates to the following consonant”
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Assimilate \As*sim"i*late\, v. i.

1.To become similar or like something else. [R.] [1913 Webster]

2.To change and appropriate nourishment so as to make it a part of the substance of the assimilating body. [1913 Webster]

Aliment easily assimilated or turned into blood.— Arbuthnot.[1913 Webster]

3.To be converted into the substance of the assimilating body; to become incorporated; as, some kinds of food assimilate more readily than others. [1913 Webster]

I am a foreign material, and cannot assimilate with the church of England.— J. H. Newman.[1913 Webster]
Assimilate \As*sim"i*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assimilated; p. pr. & vb. n. Assimilating.] [L. assimilatus, p. p. of assimilare; ad + similare to make like, similis like. See Similar, Assemble, Assimilate.]

1.To bring to a likeness or to conformity; to cause a resemblance between. --Sir M. Hale. [1913 Webster]

To assimilate our law to the law of Scotland.— John Bright.[1913 Webster]
Fast falls a fleecy; the downy flakes Assimilate all objects.— Cowper.[1913 Webster]

2.To liken; to compa?e. [R.] [1913 Webster]

3.To appropriate and transform or incorporate into the substance of the assimilating body; to absorb or appropriate, as nourishment; as, food is assimilated and converted into organic tissue. [1913 Webster]

Hence also animals and vegetables may assimilate their nourishment.— Sir I. Newton.[1913 Webster]
His mind had no power to assimilate the lessons.— Merivale.[1913 Webster]
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