digestion
(dɪˈdʒɛstjən, daɪ-)
Also α. 4–5 digestioun, 5 degestyon, 5 dy-. β. 6–7 (9 dial.) disgestion.
[a. F. digestion (13th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. dīgestiōn-em, digestion, arrangement, n. of action f. dīgerĕre (pa. pple. dīgest-) to digest.]
1. The physiological process whereby the nutritive part of the food consumed is, in the stomach and intestines, rendered fit to be assimilated by the system.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 339 The Norice of digestioun the sleepe. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 169 Þat þe mete miȝte abide in þe stomak for to make digestion. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 37 Heavinesse and care hinder digestion. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 31 The Kitchin Clerke, that hight Digestion, Did order all th' Achates in seemely wise. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II i. iii. 236 Things sweet to tast, proue in digestion sowre. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 4 His sleep Was Aerie light, from pure digestion bred. 1704 F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 156, I don't believe Digestion is perform'd by Putrefaction. 1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 279 Insects vary infinitely as to the form of the organs of the mouth, and those of digestion. 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Fate Wks. (Bohn) II. 312 In certain men, digestion and sex absorb the vital force. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus xxiii, Who can wonder? In all is health, digestion, Pure and vigorous. 1878 Masque Poets 47 Is it trouble of conscience or morbid digestion? |
b. The analogous process in insectivorous plants.
| 1875 Darwin Insectiv. Pl. vi. 85 It becomes an interesting inquiry, whether they [Drosera]..have the power of digestion. 1878 M{supc}Nab Bot. iv. (1883) 96 The insects..are..covered with a secretion containing an acid, and a substance closely resembling pepsine, and a true process of digestion goes on similar to the digestion in the stomach of an animal. |
† c. In old Physiology. first, second, and third digestion: see concoction 1 b. Also fig. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth De P.R. v. xxxix. (1495) 154 The lyuer drawyth in to his holownes of the woos of the fyrst degestyon. 1614 W. B. Philosopher's Banquet (ed. 2) 22 The act digestively is finished in the third digestion. 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 440 To choose the season for counsell..and that season is, after the first digestion of sorrow. 1658–9 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 207 If there be an error..of the first digestion, it is incurable. |
d. fig.
| c 1592 Marlowe Massacre Paris ii. vi. (version in Dyce), Hote enough to worke Thy just degestione with extreamest shame. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World v. ii. §3. 589 If no other state gave the Romans something to trouble their digestion. |
e. slow, easy, hard of digestion: slow, easy, hard to be digested. So of hard (etc.) digestion: cf. 4. Also fig.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. xiii. (1539) 31 b, It is slowe of digestion. 1599 H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner M viij b, Oyster..somewhat hard of degestion. 1653 Holcroft Procopius ii. 64 Their laws hard of disgestion, and their commands intollerable. 1699 Burnet 39 Art. ix. (1700) 116 A Doctrine that seems to be of hard digestion to a great many. a 1715 ― Own Time (1766) I. 448 These conditions were not of an easy digestion. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 252 Flesh roasted, not so easy of Digestion as boil'd. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxxi. 200 These points were of hard digestion with the princess. 1838 Penny Cycl. X. 343 Mucus..is deemed both nutritious and of easy digestion. 1863–72 Watts Dict. Chem. II. 327 Raw flesh is generally regarded as more difficult of digestion than boiled or roast meat. |
2. The power or faculty of digesting food.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xlvi. (1495) 163 In wynter is grete appetyte and strong degestyon. c 1430 A Diatorie in Babees Bk. (1868) 54 Cleer eir & walking makiþ good digestioun. 1531 Elyot Gov. iii. xxii, A man hauing due concoction and digestion as is expedient. 1589 Nashe Anat. Absurd. 34 Our disgestion would be better, if our dishes were fewer. a 1710 South in Tatler No. 205 ¶5 Every Morsel to a satisfied Hunger, is only a new Labour to a tired Digestion. 1846 G. E. Day tr. Simon's Anim. Chem. II. 41 Indications of a morbid digestion. 1861 F. Nightingale Nursing ii. 27 Weakness of digestion depends upon habits. |
3. fig. The action of digesting, or obtaining mental nourishment from (books, etc.).
| a 1610 Healey Epictetus' Man. lxix. (1636) 90 Effectes following the due disgestion of verball precepts. a 1661 Fuller Worthies III. 205 He had a great appetite to learning, and a quick digestion. 1839–40 W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 57 Glencoe supplied me with books, and I devoured them with appetite, if not digestion. |
4. The action of putting up with or bearing without resistance; brooking, endurance. ? Obs.
| 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. iv. 9 Having received so bold an answer..found it very rude, and hard of digestion. 1760 Sterne Serm. (1784) III. 6 The silent digestion of one wrong provokes a second. |
5. Chem. † a. The operation of maturing or preparing a substance by the action of gentle heat; concoction, maturation, condensation, coagulation; also susceptibility to this operation, and concr. the condition resulting from it. Obs.
| 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. v. in Ashm. (1652) 61 Then of divers degrees and of divers digestion, Colours will arise towards perfection. 1563 W. Fulke Meteors (1640) 67 Brasse, latine, and such like..differ in digestion: the Copper being purest, is of best digestion. Ibid. 68 Iron..also being of too extreame digestion, passing all other metals in hardnes. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. i. 32 It [clay] should seeme to differ onely in digestion from marle. 1626 Bacon Sylva §327 We conceive..that a perfect good Concoction, or Disgestion, or Maturation of some Metalls, will produce Gold. 1641 French Distill. i. (1651) 10 Digestion, is a concocting, or maturation of crude things by an easie, and gentle heat. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 293 Their digestion or coagulation is more in some than in others. 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iv. ii. 307 The latter [Minerals] seem to be Concretions and Digestions in the Bowels of the Earth. |
b. The operation of exposing a substance to the action of a liquid with the aid of heat, for the purpose of extracting the soluble constituents.
| 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. iii, [I put the ingredients] in a Bolt's-head nipp'd to digestion. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xxii. 164 In our Digestions and Distillations. 1757 A. Cooper Distiller i. v. (1760) 32 A Vessel for Digestion, called by chemists a pelican or circulatory Vessel. 1807 T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 366 The digestion was continued till the solution was complete. 1822 J. Imison Sc. & Art II. 19 When a solid substance..is left for a certain time in a fluid, and the mixture is kept exposed to a slow degree of heat, the process is called digestion. 1868 Royle, etc. Man. Materia Medica (ed. 5) 10 Digestion is similar to Maceration, but the action is promoted by a heat from 90° to 100°. |
† 6. Surg. The process of maturing an ulcer or wound; disposition to healthy suppuration. Obs.
| 1676 Wiseman Chirurg. Treat. 111, I shewed him that by Digestion the remaining fleshy body..would come away. 1689 Moyle Sea Chyrurg. ii. iv. 34 Prepare your fomentation to help on digestion. 1748 Hartley Observ. Man i. ii. 126 Lacerations are never cured without coming to Digestion. 1830 S. Cooper Dict. Pract. Surg. (ed. 6) 374 By the digestion of a wound or ulcer, the old Surgeons meant bringing it into a state, in which it formed healthy pus. |
† 7. fig. The process of maturing (plans) by careful consideration and deliberation. Obs.
| 1671 Temple Ess., Constit. of Empire Wks. 1731 I. 86 The Digestion of their Counsels is made in a Senate consisting of Forty Counsellors. |
† 8. The action of methodizing and reducing to order. Obs.
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 106 Digestion is an ordely placyng of thynges, partyng every matter severally. |
† b. The result of this process, a digested condition; a methodical arrangement; a digest. Obs.
| 1613 Chapman Revenge Bussy D'Ambois v, The chaos of eternal night (To which the whole digestion of the world Is now returning). 1668 Hale Pref. to Rolle's Abridgm. 7 Every Student..may easily Form unto himself a general Digestion of the Law. 1754 Farro (title), Royal Universal British Grammar and Vocabulary, being a digestion of the entire English Language into its proper parts of speech. |