The purpose of this definition paper is to study the origins of the terms, the definitions (including its limitations), and their applications to Asian American immigrants that could possibly explain the phenomena of their mental health experience. In 1936, Redfield, Linton, and Herskovits defined acculturation as something that “comprehends those phenomena which result when groups of individuals sharing different cultures come into continuous first hand contact” (99); in simpler terms, it means people of different cultures combining and interacting. Then the term acculturation was once again adjusted to reflect the changes that individuals experience upon coming into contact with other cultures (Graves, 99), and not just the mere act of interacting with other people. After several modifications to the term, the accepted definition was that acculturation was the extent to which individuals participated in the dominant culture but also maintained their cultural norms