Part 403

As`sign*ee", n. [F. assigné, p. p. of assigner. See Assign, v., and cf. Assign an assignee.] (Law) (a) A person to whom an assignment is made; a person appointed or deputed by another to do some act, perform some business, or enjoy some right, privilege, or property; as, an assignee of a bankrupt. See Assignment (c). An assignee may be by special appointment or deed, or be created by jaw; as an executor. Cowell. Blount. (b) pl. In England, the persons appointed, under a commission of bankruptcy, to manage the estate of a bankrupt for the benefit of his creditors.

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As*sign"er (s*sn"r), n. One who assigns, appoints, allots, or apportions.

As*sign"ment (&?;), n. [LL. assignamentum: cf. OF. assenement.] 1. An allotting or an appointment to a particular person or use; or for a particular time, as of a cause or causes in court.

2. (Law) (a) A transfer of title or interest by writing, as of lease, bond, note, or bill of exchange; a transfer of the whole of some particular estate or interest in lands. (b) The writing by which an interest is transferred. (c) The transfer of the property of a bankrupt to certain persons called assignees, in whom it is vested for the benefit of creditors.

Assignment of dower, the setting out by metes and bounds of the widow's thirds or portion in the deceased husband's estate, and allotting it to her.

Assignment is also used in law as convertible with specification; assignment of error in proceedings for review being specification of error; and assignment of perjury or fraud in indictment being specifications of perjury or fraud.

As`sign*or" (&?;), n. [L. assignator. Cf. Assigner.] (Law) An assigner; a person who assigns or transfers an interest; as, the assignor of a debt or other chose in action.

As*sim`i*la*bil"i*ty (&?;), n. The quality of being assimilable. [R.] Coleridge.

As*sim"i*la*ble (&?;), a. That may be assimilated; that may be likened, or appropriated and incorporated.

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.

To assimilate our law to the law of Scotland. John Bright.

Fast falls a fleecy; the downy flakes Assimilate all objects. Cowper.

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

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.

Hence also animals and vegetables may assimilate their nourishment. Sir I. Newton.

His mind had no power to assimilate the lessons. Merivale.

As*sim"i*late, v. i. 1. To become similar or like something else. [R.]

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

Aliment easily assimilated or turned into blood. Arbuthnot.

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

I am a foreign material, and cannot assimilate with the church of England. J. H. Newman.

As*sim`i*la"tion (&?;), n. [L. assimilatio: cf. F. assimilation.] 1. The act or process of assimilating or bringing to a resemblance, likeness, or identity; also, the state of being so assimilated; as, the assimilation of one sound to another.

To aspire to an assimilation with God. Dr. H. More.

The assimilation of gases and vapors. Sir J. Herschel.

2. (Physiol.) The conversion of nutriment into the fluid or solid substance of the body, by the processes of digestion and absorption, whether in plants or animals.

Not conversing the body, not repairing it by assimilation, but preserving it by ventilation. Sir T. Browne.

The term assimilation has been limited by some to the final process by which the nutritive matter of the blood is converted into the substance of the tissues and organs.