DISSIMILATION

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Meaning:

Breakdown in living organisms of more complex substances into simpler ones together with release of energy

Synonyms:

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("dissimilation" is a kind of...):

biological process; organic process (a process occurring in living organisms)

Holonyms ("dissimilation" is a part of...):

metabolic process; metabolism (the organic processes (in a cell or organism) that are necessary for life)

Meaning:

A linguistic process by which one of two similar sounds in a word becomes less like the other

Example:

the Old French MARBRE became the English MARBLE by dissimilation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("dissimilation" is a kind of...):

linguistic process (a process involved in human language)

Derivation:

dissimilate (become dissimilar or less similar)

dissimilate (become dissimilar by changing the sound qualities)