Link Centre Dictionary

dissimilation

dis·si·mi·lation

UK/ˌdɪsɪmɪˈleɪʃən/ uncommon

noun

1.

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

  • “the Old French MARBRE became the English MARBLE by dissimilation”
2.

breakdown of more complex substances into simpler ones with release of energy

Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

From dis- + -similation, after assimilation.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.