Assimilation
/əˌsɪm.ɪˈleɪ.ʃən/noun
The process of becoming similar to something else, or the absorption of one thing into another.
Did you know?In Latin, the same root behind *assimilation* also gave us *similar*, so the word began as a precise description of making one thing match another, not a mystical term.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sem-
“one; together; same”
Latin
Latin
similis
“like, similar”
Latin
Latin
assimilare
“to make similar to, to cause to resemble”
Late Latin
Latin
assimilationem
“a making similar; the act of likening”
Middle English
English
assimilation
“the act of making or becoming similar”
Modern English
English
assimilation
“the process of becoming similar to something else, or the absorption of one thing into another”
Explore more surprising origins