dissimilation

Noun

dissimilation (countable and uncountable, plural dissimilations)

1. The act of dissimilating, of making dissimilar.
2. A dissimilatory process that supply a cell with energy only without the assimilation of nutrients.
3. A phenomenon where one of a pair of similar adjacent consonant or vowel sounds in a word becomes less similar.
   • Brimstone is "properly" *brinstone, displaying an ancient careless pronunciation made respectable by being called "dissimilation".1985, Robert Burchfield, The English Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 112
4. (cultural studies) The rejection, by a minority group, of the customs and attitudes of the dominant culture.
   • After the impacts of the former Russian Empire and Soviet Union's cultural imperialism on the national identity of indigenous peoples: their language, culture and historical memory, there have been efforts at the dissimilatory process of derussification.
   • In social psychology, dissimilation is the emphasis on distinctiveness from others when they threaten one's identity[. …] Simply, […] the term dissimilation refers to [assimilation's] opposite processes of resisting likeness.2014, Hande Sözer, Managing Invisibility: Dissimulation and Identity Maintenance among Alevi Bulgarian Turks, BRILL, →ISBN, page 41