A Digest of Laws Is Food Broken Down for Reading
To digest is to break food down. The same word names a condensed collection of texts, broken down for easier use.
To digest is to break food down for absorption. The metaphorical use is older in English than most people assume: a *Digest* is a condensed compilation, and the Roman emperor Justinian's *Digest* of 533 organised centuries of legal opinion into a usable body. Reading material, like food, has to be broken down before it nourishes.
- To break down food. *Digest a meal.*
- To absorb information. *Digest the news.*
- A condensed compilation. *A monthly digest.*
- Digestive — aiding digestion, or a British biscuit. *A digestive biscuit.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | digest | Digest slowly. |
| Noun | digest | A weekly digest. |
| Noun | digestion | Poor digestion. |
| Adjective | digestible | Easily digestible. |
| Related | gestate | Gestate an idea. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Give me time to digest the report.Figurative.
- Justinian's Digest organised Roman law.Published in 533.
- A digestive biscuit was sold as an aid to digestion.The claim did not survive.
The digestive system
- Mouth — mechanical breakdown and salivary enzymes
- Stomach — acid and protein-digesting enzymes
- Small intestine — most absorption occurs here
- Large intestine — water absorption and gut bacteria
- Enzymes — proteins that break molecules apart
From Latin *digerere*, to separate or arrange, from *dis*, apart, and *gerere*, to carry. Justinian's legal compilation gave the noun sense.
Why is a biscuit called a digestive?
Nineteenth-century makers claimed the bicarbonate of soda aided digestion. The name survived the claim.
What was Justinian's Digest?
A sixth-century compilation of Roman legal writings, condensed into a systematic body that shaped European law for centuries.