Assimilation

noun

/əˌsɪmɪˈleɪʃən/

In sociology, the process by which individuals or groups of differing cultural heritage adopt the habits, attitudes, and way of life of a dominant culture, gradually merging into it.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

A truly inclusive nation seeks the integration of its minorities into the civic mainstream without coercing their assimilation, for the erasure of distinct cultural identities in the name of unity ultimately impoverishes the pluralism that the Constitution was designed to safeguard.

Synonyms

integrationabsorptionincorporationassimilatingacculturationamalgamation

Antonyms

segregationalienationexclusionmarginalisation

🌱 Word Family

assimilate (v), assimilated (adj), assimilating (v pres.p), assimilationist (n/adj), unassimilated (adj)

🔡 Root

Latin ad- (to) + similis (like, similar) → assimilare (to make similar) → assimilatio.

📜 Etymology

From Latin assimilatio (stem of assimilare, "to make similar"), via French assimilation; first recorded in English around 1595-1605.

🧠 Memory Hook

Break it into "a-SIMIL-ation" — from Latin similis, "similar": assimilation is the act of making someone or something similar to (and one with) the surrounding whole.

👥 Society 📖 Seen in: Caste, Tribal & Minority Dynamics in I...

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