Definition of: assimilation

(ə·sim′ə·lā′shən) noun
1. The act or process of assimilating.
2. Physiol. The transformation of digested nutriment into an integral and homogeneous part of the solids or fluids of the organism.
3. Bot. The starch-making function of plants. Compare ANABOLISM.
4. Phonet. The process whereby a sound is changed or modified to cause it to approach, or become identical with, a neighboring sound, as in the pronunciation (hôrsh′sh′) for horseshoe.
5. Psychol. The process by which all new experience, when received into consciousness, is modified so as to be incorporated with the results of previous conscious processes.
6. Sociol. The acceptance by one social group or community of cultural traits normally associated with another.