'digest' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'digerere', where 'dis-' meant 'apart' and 'gerere' meant 'to carry, to bear'.

'digest' came into English via Late Latin 'digestus' (past participle of 'digerere') and Old French 'digérer', later entering Middle English as forms such as 'digesten' and eventually becoming modern English 'digest'.

Initially it meant 'to carry apart' or 'to remove by carrying', then developed the sense 'to arrange, to distribute' and later 'to break down (food) or to arrange/assimilate information'; today it mainly means 'to break down and absorb' or 'to assimilate mentally'.