Definition of dissimilate in English:
dissimilate
verb dɪˈsɪmɪleɪtdəˈsɪməˌleɪt
[with object]Linguistics 1Change (a sound or sounds in a word) to another when the word originally had identical sounds near each other (e.g. in taper, which derives from papyrus, the p is dissimilated to t).
Example sentencesExamples
- In pilgrim, from Latin peregrinus, the first r is dissimilated to l.
- If the stem ends in l, the ending -na is dissimilated to -da:
- 1.1no object (of a sound) undergo the process of dissimilation.
the first ‘r’ dissimilates to ‘l’
Example sentencesExamples
- In roots with two aspirated stops, the first dissimilates to an unaspirate stop.
- Robert Blust in this journal in 1996 drew attention to a process in a number of widely separated Oceanic languages in which the first a of an aCa sequence dissimilates to a higher vowel.
Derivatives
noun dɪˌsɪmɪˈleɪʃ(ə)ndəˌsɪməˈleɪʃ(ə)n
Linguistics There was no principle shift in glucose dissimilation during cell growth with different carbon substrates.
Example sentencesExamples
- In some of these languages the rule is still productive, while others show only historical dissimilation.
- However, PEPCK was also present in the flesh of blueberries, raspberries, and redcurrants when there was no dissimilation of malate or citrate, and this raises the possibility that PEPCK might have additional functions.
- In aquatic systems these processes are two orders of magnitude slower than assimilation and dissimilation.
adjective dɪˈsɪmɪlət(ə)ri
Linguistics Dissimilatory sulfate respiration is one of the most primitive pathways for energy production.
Example sentencesExamples
- The ability to use Fe 3 + and S 0 as terminal electron acceptors, while oxidizing organic contaminants to yield carbon dioxide, is shared by most of these dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria.
- Dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria (DMRB), which are ubiquitous in soils and aquifers, couple.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from dis- (expressing reversal) + Latin similis 'like, similar', on the pattern of assimilate.
Definition of dissimilate in US English:
dissimilate
verbdəˈsiməˌlātdəˈsɪməˌleɪt
[with object]Linguistics 1Change (a sound in a word) in order to be unlike the sounds near it.
in “pilgrim,” from Latin “peregrinus,” the first “r” is dissimilated to “l.”
Example sentencesExamples
- If the stem ends in l, the ending -na is dissimilated to -da:
- In pilgrim, from Latin peregrinus, the first r is dissimilated to l.
- 1.1no object (of a sound) undergo dissimilation.
the first “r” dissimilates to “l.”
Example sentencesExamples
- Robert Blust in this journal in 1996 drew attention to a process in a number of widely separated Oceanic languages in which the first a of an aCa sequence dissimilates to a higher vowel.
- In roots with two aspirated stops, the first dissimilates to an unaspirate stop.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from dis- (expressing reversal) + Latin similis ‘like, similar’, on the pattern of assimilate.