Definition of "dissimilation" []

• The act or process of making or becoming dissimilar. (noun)
• Linguistics The process by which one of two similar or identical sounds in a word becomes less like the other, such as the l in English marble (from French marbre). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It may be called dissimilation of a sort but this hardly explains it in itself."
• "This process is called dissimilation, essentially getting rid of the similar parts."
• "It's not enough just to use 'dissimilation' without a clear description of the process firmly grounded in phonetics and acoustics."