Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Assimilation"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Photosynthesis \Pho`to*syn"the*sis\, n. (Plant Physiol.)
The process of constructive metabolism by which carbohydrates
are formed from water vapor and the carbon dioxide of the air
in the chlorophyll-containing tissues of plants exposed to
the action of light. It was formerly called {assimilation},
but this is now commonly used as in animal physiology. The
details of the process are not yet clearly known. Baeyer's
theory is that the carbon dioxide is reduced to carbon
monoxide, which, uniting with the hydrogen of the water in
the cell, produces formaldehyde, the latter forming various
sugars through polymerization. Vines suggests that the
carbohydrates are secretion products of the chloroplasts,
derived from decomposition of previously formed proteids. The
food substances are usually quickly translocated, those that
accumulate being changed to starch, which appears in the
cells almost simultaneously with the sugars. The chloroplasts
perform photosynthesis only in light and within a certain
range of temperature, varying according to climate. This is
the only way in which a plant is able to organize
carbohydrates. All plants without a chlorophyll apparatus, as
the fungi, must be parasitic or saprophytic. --
{Pho`to*syn*thet"ic}, a. -- {Pho`to*syn*thet"ic*al*ly}, adv.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Assimilation \As*sim`i*la"tion\, n. [L. assimilatio: cf. F.
assimilation.]
1. The act or process of assimilating or bringing to a
resemblance, likeness, or identity; also, the state of
being so assimilated; as, the assimilation of one sound to
another.
To aspire to an assimilation with God. --Dr. H.
More.
The assimilation of gases and vapors. --Sir J.
Herschel.
2. (Physiol.) The conversion of nutriment into the fluid or
solid substance of the body, by the processes of digestion
and absorption, whether in plants or animals.
Not conversing the body, not repairing it by
assimilation, but preserving it by ventilation.
--Sir T.
Browne.
Note: The term assimilation has been limited by some to the
final process by which the nutritive matter of the
blood is converted into the substance of the tissues
and organs.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
assimilation
n 1: the state of being assimilated
2: the social process of absorbing one cultural group into
harmony with another [syn: {absorption}]
3: the process of absorbing nutrients into the body after
digestion [syn: {absorption}]
4: a linguistic process by which a sound becomes similar to an
adjacent sound
5: the process of assimilating new ideas into an existing
cognitive structure [syn: {acculturation}]
6: in the theories of Jean Piaget: the application of a general
schema to a particular instance
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