Library / English Dictionary

ASSIMILATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become similar to one's environment

Example:

Immigrants often want to assimilate quickly

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "assimilate" is one way to...):

adapt; adjust; conform (adapt or conform oneself to new or different conditions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "assimilate"):

acculturate (assimilate culturally)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Something ----s to somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Antonym:

dissimilate (become dissimilar or less similar)

Derivation:

assimilation (the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another)

assimilation (the state of being assimilated; people of different backgrounds come to see themselves as part of a larger national family)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make similar

Example:

This country assimilates immigrants very quickly

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "assimilate" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Antonym:

dissimilate (make dissimilar; cause to become less similar)

Derivation:

assimilation (the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another)

assimilation (the state of being assimilated; people of different backgrounds come to see themselves as part of a larger national family)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become similar in sound

Example:

The nasal assimilates to the following consonant

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "assimilate" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Domain category:

phonetics (the branch of acoustics concerned with speech processes including its production and perception and acoustic analysis)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Antonym:

dissimilate (become dissimilar by changing the sound qualities)

Derivation:

assimilation (a linguistic process by which a sound becomes similar to an adjacent sound)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Take up mentally

Example:

he absorbed the knowledge or beliefs of his tribe

Synonyms:

absorb; assimilate; ingest; take in

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "assimilate" is one way to...):

acquire; larn; learn (gain knowledge or skills)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "assimilate"):

imbibe (receive into the mind and retain)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

assimilation (in the theories of Jean Piaget: the application of a general schema to a particular instance)

assimilation (the process of assimilating new ideas into an existing cognitive structure)

assimilator (someone (especially a child) who learns (as from a teacher) or takes up knowledge or beliefs)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Take (gas, light or heat) into a solution

Synonyms:

assimilate; imbibe

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "assimilate" is one way to...):

absorb (become imbued)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

assimilation (the process of absorbing nutrients into the body after digestion)

assimilative; assimilatory (capable of taking (gas, light, or liquids) into a solution)

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