assimilate vs alter

assimilate and alter both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
assimilate	No	No	Yes	No
alter	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, alter is a hypernym of assimilate; that is, alter is a word with a broader meaning than assimilate:

Other hypernyms of assimilate include change, modify.

assimilate (verb)	alter (verb)
become similar to one's environment	remove the ovaries of
make similar	become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence
become similar in sound	cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
take up mentally	insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby
take (gas, light or heat) into a solution	make an alteration to