Part 707

<hw>As*sim`i*la*bil"i*ty</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>The quality of being assimilable.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<i>Coleridge.</i>

<h1>Assimilable</h1> <Xpage=92>

<hw>As*sim"i*la*ble</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>That may be assimilated; that may be likened, or appropriated and incorporated.</def>

<h1>Assimilate</h1> <Xpage=92>

<hw>As*sim"i*late</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>imp. & p. p.</tt> <er>Assimilated</er> <tt>(#)</tt>; <tt>p. pr. & vb. n.</tt> <er>Assimilating</er> <tt>(#)</tt>.]</wordforms> <ety>[L. <ets>assimilatus</ets>, p. p. of <ets>assimilare</ets>; <ets>ad + similare</ets> to make like, <ets>similis</ets> like. See <er>Similar</er>, <er>Assemble</er>, <er>Assimilate</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To bring to a likeness or to conformity; to cause a resemblance between.</def>

<i>Sir M. Hale.</i>

<blockquote>To <b>assimilate</b> our law to the law of Scotland. <i>John Bright.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>Fast falls a fleecy; the downy flakes <b>Assimilate</b> all objects. <i>Cowper.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To liken; to compa<?/e.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>To appropriate and transform or incorporate into the substance of the assimilating body; to absorb or appropriate, as nourishment; <as>as, food is <ex>assimilated</ex> and converted into organic tissue</as>.</def>

<blockquote>Hence also animals and vegetables may <b>assimilate</b> their nourishment. <i>Sir I. Newton.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>His mind had no power to <b>assimilate</b> the lessons. <i>Merivale.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Assimilate</h1> <Xpage=92>

<hw>As*sim"i*late</hw>, <tt>v. i.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To become similar or like something else.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To change and appropriate nourishment so as to make it a part of the substance of the assimilating body.</def>

<blockquote>Aliment easily <b>assimilated</b> or turned into blood. <i>Arbuthnot.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>To be converted into the substance of the assimilating body; to become incorporated; <as>as, some kinds of food <ex>assimilate</ex> more readily than others</as>.</def>

<blockquote>I am a foreign material, and cannot <b>assimilate</b> with the church of England. <i>J. H. Newman.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Assimilation</h1> <Xpage=92>

<hw>As*sim`i*la"tion</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>assimilatio</ets>: cf. F. <ets>assimilation</ets>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The act or process of assimilating or bringing to a resemblance, likeness, or identity; also, the state of being so assimilated; <as>as, the <ex>assimilation</ex> of one sound to another</as>.</def>

<blockquote>To aspire to an <b>assimilation</b> with God. <i>Dr. H. More.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>The <b>assimilation</b> of gases and vapors. <i>Sir J. Herschel.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <fld>(Physiol.)</fld> <def>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.</def>

<blockquote>Not conversing the body, not repairing it by <b>assimilation</b>, but preserving it by ventilation. <i>Sir T. Browne.</i></blockquote>

<note>&hand; The term <i>assimilation</i> 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.</note>

<h1>Assimilative</h1> <Xpage=92>

<hw>As*sim"i*la*tive</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[Cf. LL. <ets>assimilativus</ets>, F. <ets>assimilatif</ets>.]</ety> <def>Tending to, or characterized by, assimilation; that assimilates or causes assimilation; <as>as, an <ex>assimilative</ex> process or substance</as>.</def>