digest

digest — noun

1. A published collection that brings together the key content from a longer text o

1.nounB2
Definition

A published collection that brings together the key content from a longer text or the latest news in a shortened form.

Example

Dewi buys the monthly news digest because it saves her from reading five different newspapers.

countable noun + of: digest of [topic]

The company publishes a weekly digest of articles on renewable energy technologies.

Common collocations
  • news digest
  • legal digest
  • monthly digest
  • digest of articles
Synonyms
  • summary

    more general; digest suggests a curated collection of multiple items

  • compilation

    broader; does not imply condensation or shortened form

  • abridgement

    focuses on a single text made shorter; digest often covers multiple sources

Grammar Patterns

digest + of + noun phrase

Usage Note

Commonly modified by a topic area (e.g., legal digest, news digest) or a publisher name. Unlike a full summary, a digest implies a regular publication format.

Common Mistakes

I wrote a digest of the meeting notes for myself
I wrote a summary of the meeting notes for myself.
A digest is typically a published or shared collection, not a private note.

digest — verb

Word family

  • digestion
    nounB1
  • digestive
    adjectiveB1
  • digestible
    adjectiveB2
  • indigestible
    adjectiveC1
  • indigestion
    nounB2
  • predigest
    verbC2
  • digester
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/2

These words all describe understanding new information, but they differ in pace and depth. 'Digest' (verb sense 2) implies a slow, deliberate process — you need time to let the information settle, much like the body digests food. 'Absorb' is more passive and gradual, like a sponge soaking up water; you can absorb information without actively analysing it. 'Assimilate' is formal and suggests integrating new knowledge into an existing framework — what you learn becomes part of how you think. 'Grasp' describes a moment of clarity: 'I finally grasped the point.' It is less about process and more about outcome. 'Comprehend' is the broadest term, focusing on the ability to understand rather than the time it takes. For example: 'She digested the report over the weekend, absorbed the key statistics during the meeting, assimilated them into her analysis, and finally grasped why the strategy had failed.'

absorb ↗assimilategrasp ↗comprehend

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • easily digested
  • fully digested
  • slowly digested
  • quickly digested
  • properly digested

Phrases

  • difficult to digest
  • hard to digest
  • time to digest
  • easy to digest

Prepositions

  • digest into
  • digest by
  • digested with

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'digest' comes from Latin 'digerere', meaning 'to separate, divide, or arrange'. This was formed from 'dis-' (apart) and 'gerere' (to carry). In the 14th century, it entered English referring to the body's ability to break down food. By the 16th century, the meaning had expanded to mental processing — 'digesting' ideas just as the stomach digests food. The noun sense (a collection of condensed writings) appeared in the mid-16th century, originally referring to legal compilations like the Digest of Justinian.