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assimilate

/əˈsɪm.ɪ.leɪt/verb

assimilate is spelled A-S-S-I-M-I-L-A-T-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, assimilate means “To incorporate nutrients into the body, especially after digestion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in assimilate?

Letters10: A-S-S-I-M-I-L-A-T-E
Syllables4 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.1 times per million words; the 27,150th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is assimilate?

Assimilate appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce assimilate?

  • US /əˈsɪm.ɪ.leɪt/

Assimilate has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-assimilate.ogg, En-au-assimilate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of assimilate

  • assimilates present, singular, he/she/it
  • assimilating participle, present
  • assimilated participle, past
  • more assimilate comparative
  • most assimilate superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does assimilate mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To incorporate nutrients into the body, especially after digestion.

    Food is assimilated and converted into organic tissue.

  2. 2

    To incorporate or absorb (knowledge) into the mind.

    The teacher paused in her lecture to allow the students to assimilate what she had said.

  3. 3

    To absorb (a person or people) into a community or culture.

    The aliens in the science-fiction film wanted to assimilate human beings into their own race.

  4. 4

    rareTo liken, compare to something similar.

  5. 5

    To bring to a likeness or to conformity; to cause a resemblance between.

    March 13, 1866, John Bright, The reform bill on the motion for leave to bring in the bill to assimilate our law in respect to the law of Scotland

  6. 6

    To become similar.

  7. 7

    To be incorporated or absorbed into something.

  8. 8

    To undergo phonetic assimilation.

adjective

  1. 1

    obsoleteAssimilated.

  2. 2

    obsoleteSimilar, like, the same as.

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleteSomething that is or has been assimilated.

  2. 2

    obsoleteSomething that is like, similar to another.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Assimilate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchassimiler, absorber (to incorporate nutrients into the body after…), digérer (to incorporate or absorb knowledge into the mind)
Portugueseassimilar, anabolizar (to incorporate nutrients into the body after…), absorver (to incorporate or absorb knowledge into the mind), integrar (to absorb a group of people into a community)
Germanassimilieren (to absorb a group of people into a community)
Spanishasimilar (to absorb a group of people into a community)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does assimilate come from?

First attested in the early 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English; Middle English assimilaten (“to become similar; to make like”), from assimilat(e) (“assimilated”, also used as the past participal of assimilaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Late Latin assimilātus, variant of Latin assimulātus (“made similar, imitated”), perfect passive participle of assimulō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ad + simulō (“to imitate, copy”), from similis (“like, similar”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together, one”). Doublet of assemble.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after assimilate