disassimilation

disassimilation noun: catabolism (metabolism with the release of energy).

Noun

disassimilation (plural disassimilations)

(obsolete) catabolism (metabolism with the release of energy)
- It shows that the brain is not important to the proper performance of the functions of assimilation and disassimilation—or those of organic life.1851 March, Buffalo Medical Journal, volume 6, number 10, page 584
- His experiments show “that about four-fifths of our disassimilations are the result of transformations within the body, comparable to the oxidation of alcohol, and that the remaining one-fifth of the disassimilations are formed at the expense of the living tissues themselves, free of all demands on...1894, The Dental Register, volume 48, page 198
The act of becoming less assimilated or integrated, particularly of ethnic groups.
- Judging from the autobiographical texts of these three authors, Natives often mixed assimilation with a degree of disassimilation.2004, Joel Pfister, Individuality incorporated: Indians and the multicultural modern
- At this point, "a process of disassimilation begins. The arts, life, and ideals of the nationality become central and paramount; ethnic and national differences change in status from disadvantages to distinctions."2007, Kristofer Allerfeldt, The Progressive Era in the USA, 1890-1921, page 143

There is a white-black substance which when acted upon by the visible rays of light undergoes disassimilation and sets up nerve impulses that arouse in the brain the sensation of white.1907, William Henry Howell, A Text-book of physiology, page 342:
I see Jewish Renewal as a late twentieth-century articulation of what I called the second stage of disassimilation of American Jews, its constructive/ illustrative phase.2013, Shaul Magid, American Post-Judaism: Identity and Renewal in a Postethnic Society:

plural	disassimilations

From dis- + assimilation.

What does disassimilation mean?: Disassimilation means catabolism (metabolism with the release of energy).
How do you use disassimilation in a sentence?: There is a white-black substance which when acted upon by the visible rays of light undergoes disassimilation and sets up nerve impulses that arouse in the brain the sensation of white.
What part of speech is disassimilation?: Disassimilation is a noun.
What is the plural of disassimilation?: The plural of disassimilation is disassimilations.

Adapted from Wiktionary: disassimilation (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “disassimilation.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/disassimilation. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.