assimilation (a simi lash on)

[F. a imi lati on, IMG:content-1265.png:[blocks in formation] It is as well the instinct as duty of our nature to aspire 3. To be a ociated with as an a istant. = Syn. to an a imilation with God. Decay of Christ. Piety. In this long stillne the fusion of conquerors and conquered, the Christian i zati on and civilization of the Norman, his a imilation in political and social temper to the France beside him, went steadily on. J. R. Green, Conq. of Eng., p. 374. (b) In physiol., the act or proce by which organisms convert and absorb nutriment, so that it becomes part of the fluid or solid substances composing them. To these preparatory changes, which fit the crude food materials for protoplasmic food, the general name of as IMG:content-1266.png:[blocks in formation] 2. To second, back, support, further, sustain, serve; befriend, relieve. II. in trans. 1. To lend aid or help. In every turn of state, without meddling on either side, he [Lord Leicester] has always been favourable and a ist ing to oppre ed merit. Dryden, Ded. of Don Sebastian. God constituted several ranks and qualities of men, that they might mutually a ist to the support of each other. R. Nelson , Fasts and Festivals. 2. To be present, as at a public meeting; take part, as in a ceremony or discu ion. [A Galli formation, minerals by attraction and aggregation. Page. cism.] (c) In pathol., the supposed conversion, according to an obsolete theory, of the fluids of the body to the nature of any morbific matter. (d) In philol., the act or proce by any morbi one alphabetic sound is rendered like, or le un like, another neighboring sound; a lightening of the effort of utterance by le ening or removing the discordance of formation between different sounds in a word, or in contiguous words. The kinds and degrees of a imilation are very various, and include a large part of the historical changes in the phonetic form of words. Examples are a imilate from L. ad - similare, correction from L. con rectio, impend from L. in - pendere, L. rectus from reg - tus, L. rex ( reks ) from reg - s, E. legs (pronounced legz ), reaped (pronounced reapt ), and so on. Little a imilations, in Oxford, a meeting of the masters and two proctors, called by the vice-chancellor, in the congregation house, on the ringing of the little bell. This meeting is authorized to read, approve, and seal any letters concerning the public laws of the university, written conformably to the decree of Convocation, and also to set seal to decrees of Convoca tion, and to despatch minor matters. a imilative (a-sim'i-la-tiv), a. [F. a imila tif; The desert birds are still more remarkably protected by their a imilative hues. A. R. Wallace , Nat. Selec., p. 50. A bookishne as a imilative as that of Hunt or Lamb. Stedman , Poets of America, p. 184.