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Webster 1913 Edition


Digestion

Di-ges′tion

(?; 106)
,
Noun.
[F.
digestion
, L.
digestio
.]
1.
The act or process of digesting; reduction to order; classification; thoughtful consideration.
2.
(Physiol.)
The conversion of food, in the stomach and intestines, into soluble and diffusible products, capable of being absorbed by the blood.
3.
(Med.)
Generation of pus; suppuration.

Webster 1828 Edition


Digestion

DIGESTION

,
Noun.
[L.]
1.
The conversion of food into chyme, or the process of dissolving aliment in the stomach and preparing it for circulation and nourishment. A good digestion is essential to health.
2.
In chemistry, the operation of exposing bodies to a gentle heat, to prepare them for some action on each other; or the slow action of a solvent on any substance.
3.
The act of methodizing and reducing to order; the maturation of a design.
4.
The process of maturing an ulcer or wound, and disposing it to generate pus; or the generation of matter.
5.
The process of dissolution and preparation of substances for manure, as in compost.

Definition 2024


digestion

digestion

See also: digestión

English

Noun

digestion (countable and uncountable, plural digestions)

  1. The process, in the gastrointestinal tract, by which food is converted into substances that can be utilized by the body.
    • 2013 June 29, A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 72-3:
      Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.
  2. The result of this process.
  3. The ability to use this process.
  4. The processing of decay in organic matter assisted by microorganisms.
  5. The assimilation and understanding of ideas.
  6. (medicine, archaic) Generation of pus; suppuration.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations


French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin digestio, digestionem.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /diʒɛstjɔ̃/
  • Rhymes: -jɔ̃

Noun

digestion f (plural digestions)

  1. digestion

Old French

Alternative forms

  • digestioun
  • digestiun

Noun

digestion f (oblique plural digestions, nominative singular digestion, nominative plural digestions)

  1. digestion