Meaning & use
assimilation
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Meanings
noununcountable
The gradual process by which a person or community takes on the language, habits, and outlook of the wider society they live in.
Grammar: Usually no article: assimilation takes years, not an assimilation.
Patterns
- assimilation into something
- assimilation of someone
- the assimilation of immigrants
Her family's assimilation into the town was quick because the children learned the language at school.
Some communities fear that full assimilation will erase their traditions.
The museum tells the story of immigrant assimilation in the early twentieth century.
noununcountablebiologytechnical
The way the body takes in digested food and turns it into living tissue, or the way a plant absorbs and uses nutrients.
Grammar: A technical sense, usually followed by of: the assimilation of iron.
Patterns
- assimilation of something
Vitamin C helps the assimilation of iron from plant foods.
Poor assimilation of nutrients can leave a person tired even when they eat well.
Plants depend on the assimilation of nitrogen from the soil.
noununcountableformal
The act of fully understanding new information or ideas so that they become part of what you already know.
Grammar: Often followed by of: the assimilation of new facts.
Patterns
- assimilation of something
The course is designed for the slow assimilation of difficult concepts.
Fast assimilation of the new rules helped the team win its first match.
noununcountabletechnical
A change in a speech sound that makes it more like a neighboring sound, as when 'input' is often said like 'imput'.
Grammar: Used in linguistics; also countable when naming a particular case: two assimilations.
Patterns
- assimilation of a sound
The pronunciation of 'handbag' as 'hambag' is an example of assimilation.
Students of phonetics study assimilation to see how sounds influence each other.
Word forms
| plural | assimilations |
|---|
Common combinations
- cultural assimilation
- Cultural assimilation often happens within two or three generations.
- forced assimilation
- The policy of forced assimilation caused lasting harm to indigenous families.
- rapid assimilation
- Rapid assimilation was easier for the children than for their grandparents.
- assimilation into society
- Language classes aid the assimilation into society of new arrivals.
- assimilation of nutrients
- Some illnesses interfere with the assimilation of nutrients.
Synonyms and how they differ
- integration
- Integration suggests people join a society while keeping their own identity, whereas assimilation suggests they gradually lose it.
- absorption
- Absorption is broader and can describe liquids or ideas being taken in, while assimilation stresses becoming part of the whole.
- acculturation
- Acculturation is a more academic word for adapting to another culture and does not always imply giving up the original one.
- adaptation
- Adaptation means adjusting to new conditions in general, while assimilation names becoming like the surrounding group.
Opposites
Word family
- assimilate verb
- to take in or become part of something larger
- assimilated adjective
- fully adapted to a surrounding culture
- assimilationist adjective
- favoring or relating to cultural assimilation
- assimilable adjective
- able to be absorbed or understood
Commonly confused: assimilation or simulation?
assimilation vs simulation
A simulation is an imitation of a real process, such as a flight simulation; it has nothing to do with absorbing or blending in.
Practice
Many immigrants feel pressure toward ____ rather than keeping their original customs.
Choose one answer.
Assimilation means adopting the surrounding culture. Segregation means keeping groups apart, the opposite idea.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “assimilation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.