[as.sim.i.la.tion] n (15c) 1 a: an act, process, or instance of assimilating b: the state of being assimilated
2: the incorporation or conversion of nutrients into protoplasm that in animals follows digestion and absorption and in higher plants involves both photosynthesis and root absorption
3: change of a sound in speech so that it becomes identical with or similar to a neighboring sound "the usual ~ of /z/ to /sh/ in the phrase his shoe"
4: the process of receiving new facts or of responding to new situations in conformity with what is already available to consciousness