dissimilation: Meaning and Definition of

dis•sim•i•la•tion

1. the act of making or becoming unlike.
2. the process by which a speech sound becomes different from or less like a neighboring sound, as pilgrimfrom Latin peregrīnusand purplefrom Old English purpureor disappears entirely because of a like sound in another syllable, as in the pronunciationfor governor. Cf. assimilation (def. 5).
3. catabolism.