noun

• The process, in the gastrointestinal tract, by which food is converted into substances that can be utilized by the body.
• The result of this process.
• The ability to use this process.
• The processing of decay in organic matter assisted by microorganisms.
• The assimilation and understanding of ideas.
• (medicine, archaic) Generation of pus; suppuration.
• (chemistry) Dissolution of a sample into a solution by means of adding acid and heat.