2. To liken; to compa [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.
ASSIMILATE
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.
ASSIMILATION
As*sim`i*la"tion, n. Etym: [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.)
Defn: 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.