assimilation
/əˌsɪməˈleɪʃən/uh-sih-muh-LAY-shuhn
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/əˌsɪməˈleɪʃən/uh-sih-muh-LAY-shuhn
Meaningthe act of assimilating
Common meaning: taking in and making alike
Tap a word part to explore
- asto, towards
- simillike, resemblingLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1700 · scan
- atverb or adjective ending: to make, having
- ionnoun ending: act or result
‘to, towards’ + ‘like, resembling’ → assimilation
Journey through time
- Latinsimilis‘like, resembling’
- Englishassimilate‘to absorb and make part of oneself’
- Englishformed in English from assimilateassimilation‘taking in and making alike’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from assimilate + -ion.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), ASSIMILATE, p.38 · scan
Roots
- similis Latin “like, resembling”
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