digest definition | Dictionary.com

di⋅gest

[v. di-jest, dahy-; n. dahy-jest]

–verb (used with object)

1.	to convert (food) in the alimentary canal into absorbable form for assimilation into the system.

2.	to promote the digestion of (food).

3.	to obtain information, ideas, or principles from; assimilate mentally: to digest a pamphlet on nuclear waste.

4.	to arrange methodically in the mind; think over: to digest a plan.

5.	to bear with patience; endure.

6.	to arrange in convenient or methodical order; reduce to a system; classify.

7.	to condense, abridge, or summarize.

8.	Chemistry. to soften or disintegrate (a substance) by means of moisture, heat, chemical action, or the like.

–verb (used without object)

9.	to digest food.

10.	to undergo digestion, as food.

–noun

11.	a collection or compendium, usually of literary, historical, legal, or scientific matter, esp. when classified or condensed.

12.

Law.

a.	a systematic abstract of some body of law.

b.	the Digest, a collection in fifty books of excerpts, esp. from the writings of the Classical Roman jurists, compiled by order of Justinian in the 6th century a.d.; the Pandects.

13.	Biochemistry. the product of the action of an enzyme on food or other organic material.

Origin:
1350–1400; (v.) ME digesten < L dīgestus separated, dissolved (ptp. of dīgerere), equiv. to dī- di- ² + ges- carry, bear (base of gerere) + -tus ptp. suffix; (n.) ME: collection of laws < LL dīgesta (pl.), L: collection of writings, neut. pl. of dīgestus, as above

Related forms:

di⋅gest⋅ed⋅ly, adverb

di⋅gest⋅ed⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
4. understand; study, ponder. 6. systematize, codify. 11. epitome, abridgment. See summary.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To digest

di·gest (dī-jěst', dĭ-)

v. di·gest·ed, di·gest·ing, di·gests

v. tr.

Physiology To convert (food) into simpler chemical compounds that can be absorbed and assimilated by the body, as by chemical and muscular action in the alimentary canal.
To think over so as to understand; absorb or assimilate.
1. To organize into a systematic arrangement, usually by summarizing or classifying.
2. To condense or abridge (a written work).
Chemistry To soften or disintegrate by means of chemical action, heat, or moisture.

v. intr.

Physiology
1. To become assimilated into the body.
2. To assimilate food substances.
Chemistry To undergo exposure to heat, liquids, or chemical agents.

n. (dī'jěst')

A collection of previously published material, such as articles, essays, or reports, usually in edited or condensed form.
Law A systematic arrangement of statutes or court decisions.
A periodical containing literary abridgments or other condensed works.
Digest See pandect.

[Middle English digesten, from Latin dīgerere, dīgest-, to separate, arrange : dī-, dis-, apart; see dis- + gerere, to carry. N., from Latin dīgesta, neuter pl. of dīgestus, past participle of dīgerere, to separate.]

pan·dect (pān'děkt')

A comprehensive digest or complete treatise.
pandects A complete body of laws; a legal code.
Pandects A digest of Roman civil law, compiled for the emperor Justinian in the sixth century A.D. and part of the Corpus Juris Civilis. Also called Digest.

[Latin pandectēs, encyclopedia, from Greek pandektēs, all-receiving : pan-, pan- + dektēs, receiver (from dekhesthai, to receive, accept; see dek- in Indo-European roots).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Digest

Di*gest"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Digested; p. pr. & vb. n. Digesting.] [L. digestus, p. p. of digerere to separate, arrange, dissolve, digest; di- = dis- + gerere to bear, carry, wear. See Jest.]

1. To distribute or arrange methodically; to work over and classify; to reduce to portions for ready use or application; as, to digest the laws, etc.

Joining them together and digesting them into order. --Blair.

We have cause to be glad that matters are so well digested. --Shak.

2. (Physiol.) To separate (the food) in its passage through the alimentary canal into the nutritive and nonnutritive elements; to prepare, by the action of the digestive juices, for conversion into blood; to convert into chyme.

3. To think over and arrange methodically in the mind; to reduce to a plan or method; to receive in the mind and consider carefully; to get an understanding of; to comprehend.

Feelingly digest the words you speak in prayer. --Sir H. Sidney.

How shall this bosom multiplied digest The senate's courtesy? --Shak.

4. To appropriate for strengthening and comfort.

Grant that we may in such wise hear them [the Scriptures], read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them. --Book of Common Prayer.

5. Hence: To bear comfortably or patiently; to be reconciled to; to brook.

I never can digest the loss of most of Origin's works. --Coleridge.

6. (Chem.) To soften by heat and moisture; to expose to a gentle heat in a boiler or matrass, as a preparation for chemical operations.

7. (Med.) To dispose to suppurate, or generate healthy pus, as an ulcer or wound.

8. To ripen; to mature. [Obs.]

Well-digested fruits. --Jer. Taylor.

9. To quiet or abate, as anger or grief.

Digest

Di*gest"\, v. i. 1. To undergo digestion; as, food digests well or ill.

2. (Med.) To suppurate; to generate pus, as an ulcer.

Digest

Di"gest\, n. [L. digestum, pl. digesta, neut., fr. digestus, p. p.: cf. F. digeste. See Digest, v. t.] That which is digested; especially, that which is worked over, classified, and arranged under proper heads or titles; esp. (Law), A compilation of statutes or decisions analytically arranged. The term is applied in a general sense to the Pandects of Justinian (see Pandect), but is also specially given by authors to compilations of laws on particular topics; a summary of laws; as, Comyn's Digest; the United States Digest.

A complete digest of Hindu and Mahommedan laws after the model of Justinian's celebrated Pandects. --Sir W. Jones.

They made a sort of institute and digest of anarchy, called the Rights of Man. --Burke.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : digest

Spanish: digerir,

German: verdauen,

Japanese: 消化する

More Translations »

digest (n.)

"collection of writing," 1387, from L. digestus, pp. of digerere "to separate, divide, arrange," from dis- "apart" + gerere "to carry."

digest (v.)

"assimilate food in bowels," c.1460 (digestion is attested from c.1386), from L. digestus (see digest (n.)).

Main Entry: di·gest
Pronunciation: 'dI-"jest
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin digesta, from neuter plural of digestus, past participle of digerere to disperse, arrange
: a compilation of legal rules, statutes, or decisions systematically arranged

Main Entry: ¹di·gest
Pronunciation: 'dI-"jest
Function: noun
: a product of digestion

Main Entry: ²di·gest
Pronunciation: dI-'jest, d&-
Function: transitive verb
1 : to convert (food) into absorbable form
2 a : to soften, decompose, or break down by heat and moisture or chemicals b : to extract soluble ingredients from by warming with a liquid digestintransitive senses
1 : to digest food
2 : to become digested

digest di·gest (dī-jěst', dĭ-)
v. di·gest·ed, di·gest·ing, di·gests

To convert food into simpler chemical compounds that can be absorbed and assimilated by the body, as by chemical and muscular action in the alimentary canal.
To soften or disintegrate by means of chemical action, heat, or moisture.

di·gest'i·bil'i·ty n.
di·gest'i·ble adj.

digest
A periodical collection of messages which have been posted to a newsgroup or mailing list. A digest is prepared by a moderator who selects articles from the group or list, formats them and adds a contents list. The digest is then either mailed to an alternative mailing list or posted to an alternative newsgroup.
Some news readers and electronic mail programs provide commands to "undigestify" a digest, i.e. to split it up into individual articles which may then be read and saved or discarded separately.

Digest

collection of passages from the writings of Roman jurists, arranged in 50 books and subdivided into titles according to the subject matter. In AD 530 the Roman emperor Justinian entrusted its compilation to the jurist Tribonian with instructions to appoint a commission to help him. The Pandects were published in AD 533 and given statutory force (see also Justinian, Code of), which they retained into the Middle Ages in the Byzantine Empire. Early in the 19th century the term Pandectists was applied to the historical school of Roman-law scholars in Germany who resumed the scientific study of the Pandects. The leader of the school was Friedrich Karl von Savigny.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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