absorptionn.
/əbˈzɔːpʃn/, /əbˈsɔːpʃn/, U.S. /əbˈzɔrpʃ(ə)n/, /æbˈzɔrpʃ(ə)n/, /əbˈsɔrpʃ(ə)n/, /æbˈsɔrpʃ(ə)n/ I. General senses.† 1. The action or process of swallowing up or engulfing a material thing; an instance of this. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > wrapping > [noun] > enfolding or enveloping > in a surrounding medium
absorption1597
engulfing1658
engulfment1832
1597 Bp. J. King Lect. Ionas xxii. 287 The absorption or buriall [of Jonas by the great fish].
a1656 Bp. J. Hall Shaking of Olive-tree (1660) ii. 24 The aversion of God's face is confusion..but his..whole fury,..is the utter absorption of the creature.
1660 H. More Explan. Grand Myst. Godliness viii. 235 The absorption of Earthquakes that swallowed down the Cities.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Absorptions of the Earth, a term used by Kircher and others, for the sinking in of large tracts of land, by means of subterranean commotions.
1778 tr. A. Fortis Trav. into Dalmatia 98 Whole strata of rounded stones,..could be torn asunder, and sunk; and..new hills..arise from that absorption.
2. The state of being engrossed in something. Frequently with in.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > attention > earnest attention, concentration > [noun]
intendance1390
intentionc1400
intensiona1619
absorption1640
immersion1647
preoccupation1788
concentration1823
engrossment1838
self-condensation1841
enchainment1849
submergence1872
immersal1901
absorbency1974
1640 Bp. J. Hall tr. A. Salmeron in Christian Moderation i. 79 That turpitude and absorption (of reason) which commonly attends the act of matrimoniall knowledge is not a sin.
1761 S. Johnson Idler I. 230 Such is the absorption of our thoughts in the business of the present day,..that every calamity comes suddenly upon us.
1827 Blackwood's Mag. July 90/2 I have already noticed the solemnity and entire absorption of mind with which this portion of the Bacchanalian rites is uniformly celebrated in Glasgow.
1855 C. Dickens Let. 3 Jan. (1993) VII. 495 The absorption of the English mind in the War.
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede I. i. iii. 54 It was an expression of unconscious placid gravity—of absorption in thoughts that had no connection with the present moment.
1874 F. W. Farrar Silence & Voices of God ix. 164 Blind, groping, illiberal absorption in some mechanical routine.
1920 Glasgow Herald 5 Mar. 8 Prolonged and continuous absorption in hard thinking may aridify the emotions and destroy the appreciation of genuine poetry.
1976 ‘W. Trevor’ Children of Dynmouth viii. 159 His father had a way of losing himself in some private absorption, of not hearing when people spoke to him.
2000 J. Raskin Humane Interface ii. 26 Absorption in a task or a problem decreases the ease with which a person can change her locus of attention.
3. Disappearance through incorporation in or assimilation into something else.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > incorporation or inclusion > assimilation or absorption > [noun]
suppinga1400
accretion1633
absorption1659
absorbitiona1682
intussusception1707
assimilating1781
assimilation1790
swallowing1816
submergence1826
introsusceptiona1834
merging1836
mergence1865
osmosis1930
recuperation1967
1659 J. Gauden Ἱερα Δακρυα iv. iv. 416 Leaving this poor weather beaten Church, after infinite tossings, like a founder'd ship, in a troubled Sea of confusion, attending one of these two sad fates, either a Schismaticall dissolution, or a Papall absorption.
1736 W. Warburton Alliance Church & State 165 The ancient Greek philosophy... Its gradual Decay, and total Absorption in the Schools.
1785 C. Wilkins tr. Bhăgvăt-Gēētā xvi. 115 The divine destiny is for Mōksh, or eternal absorption in the divine nature.
1834 T. P. Thompson Exercises (1842) III. 201 But at the same time that copyists were being thrown out of employ, printers must have been in demand; here then was one way for the absorption of at least a portion of the copyists.
1860 All Year Round 11 Aug. 418 The absorption of dialects by the Latin..gave a great impulse to civilisation.
1878 J. R. Seeley Life & Times Stein III. 415 A provision expressly intended to prevent the absorption of peasant-holdings.
1903 E. Grey in Hansard Commons 18 Feb. 245 Russia seems undoubtedly..to be carrying on a process of absorption in Persia, and it is being done by what..a French writer has called peaceful penetration.
1957 F. M. J. Elliott & M. B. Summerskill Dict. Politics 251 Pan-Germanists have advocated..the absorption into Germany of the German-speaking provinces of Austria.
2000 Nature Conservancy Nov. 21/1 His alacrity with the complex island language and his traditional home tucked away in the woods speak to his absorption into the local culture.
4. The assimilation of information, external impressions, etc., into one's own experience or knowledge. Cf. absorb v. 8.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > [noun] > passive reception
susception1756
absorption1810
1810 Rural Visiter 10 Dec. 90/1 I mean a certain depth of thought—a total absorption of ideas—or what many expressively term a brown study that they can indulge in at pleasure.
1878 Atlantic Monthly Jan. 132/2 It is not facts alone that are accumulated without assimilation by those who have mistaken notions about culture; that seems like a harmless amusement in comparison with the swift and reckless absorption of opinions, so commonly to be observed about us.
1949 W. Lewis Let. 6 Aug. (1963) 502 ‘Circles’ for weekly absorption of potted literature etc.
1979 D. Lessing Shikasta 39 Time had to be allowed for the absorption of what I had said.
2008 Times of Trenton (New Jersey) (Nexis) 12 Oct. a11 Each week's five linked programs take a single theme..easing the child along each day into an ever-deeper absorption of the meaning, and nurturing their ability to live it out.
5. The assimilation of immigrants to a country; spec. (in Israel) integration of Jewish immigrants as an organized process involving provision of accommodation and other services upon arrival, cultural and linguistic education, etc.; cf. absorption centre n. at Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1874 Internat. Rev. Nov. 722 The gradual process which may be called the absorption of immigrants.
1922 Railroad Telegrapher Mar. 224/2 We are not justified in bringing men here unless we have a well organized scheme to provide for their absorption.
1948 Times 30 Nov. 3/2 It was announced to-day that a new department is being set up to expedite the immigration of oriental Jews. These number hundreds of thousands, and their absorption into a society that is distinctly European will be difficult.
1950 Zion Jan.–Feb. 23/1 In the period after the war every settlement in the country became a centre for absorption and education.
1998 N.Y. Times 10 June b11/2 Its [sc. bilingual education's] days as a widely hailed solution to the complex problems of immigrant absorption are numbered.
2011 Jerusalem Post (Nexis) 31 Jan. 6 Those who decide to return have a successful absorption and become again a part of [Israeli] society.
6. The action or process of accepting or coping with unexpected, unforeseen, or difficult circumstances, esp. without apparent disruption. Cf. absorb v. 7b.
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1878 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 475/1 The test of true pleasure, according to Epicurus, is the removal and absorption of all that gives pain.
1920 P. T. Cherington Elem. Marketing x. 119 An example of the way in which future trading might be used for the absorption of commercial hazards.
1976 Times (San Mateo, Calif.) 29 Jan. 29/3 Increased productivity and absorption of increased workload must be achieved.
1997 Orange County (Calif.) Register (Nexis) 14 Nov. f09 There are plenty of popular expressions—‘No pain, no gain’—that suggest that the absorption of pain almost for its own sake is a virtue.
2011 OECD Econ. Outlook 89 325 It [sc. raising inflation targets] might also enhance wage flexibility and hence facilitate the absorption of large adverse shocks.
II. Technical senses.
7.
a. The chemical or physical process of absorbing substances, energy, light, etc. Cf. absorb v. 3, 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > action or process of absorbing > [noun]
imbibition1601
absorption1675
aspiration1842
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [noun] > chemical reactions or processes (named) > absorption
absorption1675
absorbency1763
1675 G. Harvey Dis. of London viii. 120 Part of the Blood is naturally glutinous, which being tied closer together in its particles by the absorption of the thinner and serous parts, must needs prove pendulous.
1757 Philos. Trans. 1756 (Royal Soc.) 49 489 Each of these injections was retained with little or no inconvenience..Wherein the power of absorption seemed very considerable.
1794 J. Hutton Diss. Philos. Light 89 Such are the laws observed in the various absorption and reflection of light.
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature V. 329 The Arena, so called from its being covered with sand for the absorption of the blood.
1871 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (ed. 6) I. ii. 35 In this transfer..consists the absorption of radiant heat.
1931 A. D. Hall Soil (ed. 4) vi. 195 Absorption at the root..of about 400 tons of water.
2002 M. Kurlansky Salt (2003) vi. 100 The aging of the cheese is a matter of its slow absorption of salt.
b. The reduction in intensity of sound waves by a material, through the conversion of sound energy into other forms (esp. heat).
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1813 B. D. Wyatt Observ. Design Theatre Royal 20 This..I considered as an ample provision for the absorption of Sound resulting from the number of persons, their woollen clothes, and the state of the atmosphere.
1900 W. C. Sabine in Amer. Architect & Building News 7 Apr. 4/2 Sound, being energy, once produced in a confined space, will continue until it..is transformed into some other kind of energy, generally heat. This process of decay is called absorption.
1958 Pop. Mech. July This provides a hard finish which prevents absorption of high-frequency sound waves.
2008 Dwell June 102/1 The material has the added benefits of sound absorption and heat insulation.
c. The storage of electrical energy by a dielectric medium.
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1865 J. C. Maxwell in London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 29 156 Other media, as glass, shellac, and sulphur have different powers as dielectrics; and some of them exhibit the phenomena of electric absorption and residual discharge.
1884 O. Heaviside in Electrician 2 Feb. 270/1 If we pass an electric current..across the junction, there will be, by elementary principles, a continuous absorption of energy.
1920 H. Moss Watson's Text-bk. Physics (ed. 7) 654 The phenomenon of absorption also illustrates the fact that the energy of a charged Leyden jar is stored up in the dielectric.
2004 A. H. Robbins & W. C. Miller Circuit Anal. x. 346 In electronic circuits, the voltage due to dielectric absorption can upset circuit voltage levels.
d. Physics. The reduction in intensity of a beam of radiation as it passes through matter; the interaction of a photon or other particle of radiation with an atom of the medium in which it travels, resulting in the particle ceasing to exist in a free state.
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1896 A. Stanton tr. W. C. Röntgen in Nature 23 Jan. 275/2 Several kinds of kathode rays exist, which differ by their power of exciting phosphorescence, their susceptibility of absorption, and their deviation by the magnet.
1923 R. Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics IV. 582/1 The absorption of β rays is investigated by placing thin sheets of the absorbing material in the path of the rays and measuring the activity through different thicknesses.
1947 G. Thomson Atom (ed. 3) xi. 99. Experiments show that these discontinuities in absorption, or Absorption Edges as they are called, are extremely well marked.
1958 Optima Mar. 36/1 Neutron absorption converts uranium 238 into element 94—plutonium.
2007 Planetary & Space Sci. 55 476/1 The latter two components are caused by the absorption and subsequent re-emission of radiation.
e. The loss of energy of transmitted radio waves to the medium in which they travel.
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1899 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers 27 903 The power absorption of ether-wave-energy by water is too great to allow Hertz waves to be transmitted any great distance through it.
1948 D. Taylor & C. H. Westcott Princ. Radar iii. 26 The related concept of effective absorption area Aa of an aerial.
1971 New Scientist 12 Aug. 356/2 Auroral displays and their associated effects, the absorption of certain radio waves, increases in the conductivity of the ionosphere at high latitudes, [etc.].
2010 Washington Post (Nexis) 29 June a1 There is potentially a greater risk that children, with their thinner skulls, would suffer from the absorption of radio frequencies in their brain tissue.
8. Medicine and Physiology. The taking in or reincorporation of a substance or tissue previously synthesized, secreted, etc.; an instance of this; = reabsorption n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > discharge or flux > [noun] > resorption
resorption1714
absorption1732
reabsorption1874
1732 F. Clifton State of Physick 150 A late ingenious Physician attempted to prevent the ill effects of this absorption [of purulent matter], by opening an outlet in another place.
1793 M. Baillie Morbid Anat. ix. 148 This change [in the liver] must arise from a process which takes place through its whole substance, and seems to be what Mr. Hunter has called the interstitial absorption.
1804 J. Abernethy Surg. Observ. 16 Another curative indication naturally arises which is to promote the absorption of the new formed substance.
1881 St. G. Mivart Cat 20 Spaces are then formed in this substance by absorption.
1947 A. D. Imms Outl. Entomol. (ed. 3) iv. 135 Specialization involves..the formation of a large discal cell in each wing by the absorption of intervening veins and cells.
2003 S. J. Segal & L. Mastroianni Hormone Use Menopause & Male Andropause 23 In normal physiology, bone density is maintained by a balance between absorption of old bone and restructuring of new bone.
9. Physiology. The taking up of a substance by an organ, tissue, or cell; spec. the process by which nutrients pass from the lumen of the intestine into the lymph or blood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > absorption or assimilation (of a substance, etc.) > [noun]
attraction?a1425
likening?a1425
assimilation1626
insumption1676
absorption1737
intussusception1765
introsusception1816
inceptiona1849
uptake1931
the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > [noun] > digestion > digestive process
distribution1589
concoction1594
absorption1844
peptic digestion1877
1737 Med. Ess. & Observ. (Philos. Soc. Edinb.) (ed. 2) II. 132 That power which Physicians generally now-a-days call Absorption, whereby the small open Orifices of Vessels imbibe Liquors lodged in the Cavities of the Body.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Absorption in the animal economy is used for that power whereby the small open orifices of vessels imbibe liquors.
1844 W. B. Carpenter Animal Physiol. i. 37 It is by means of the membrane lining the digestive cavity, that the functions of digestion and absorption are performed.
1881 St. G. Mivart Cat 167 Another process, which is ancillary to nutrition and secretion, is termed Absorption.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1317 Bile, a yellow, bitter fluid..is partly of the nature of a waste-product, but it helps to a slight extent in digestion and in absorption.
1976 Toxicol. & Appl. Pharmacol. 38 407 The potential for renal cell necrosis by cadmium-metallothionein and not by cadmium chloride may lie in the difference in mechanism for cellular absorption and transcellular transport for the two substances.
2003 Observer 31 Aug. (Mag.) 58/2 A constituent of pepper—known as piperine—has the ability to enhance the absorption of nutrients from the diet.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive (chiefly in sense 7).
ΚΠ
1875 Photogr. News 17 Sept. 446/2 With corallin I made my first attempts, but found very soon that this substance changes very easily: that a trace of acid is capable of moving its absorption capacity totally.
1906 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 205 252 The wave-length corresponding to the free periods of its [sc. a conducting sphere's] vibration, this wave-length being assumed to be that of the absorption maximum.
1951 Bot. Rev. 17 221 The presence of inorganic solutes in the phloem reflects an absorption process homologous with the absorption of salts by roots.
1962 Econ. Devel. & Cultural Change 11 73 The settlement planners believed that settling culturally different immigrants in the same moshav would speed the absorption process.
1992 M. S. Longair High Energy Astrophysics (ed. 2) I. iv. 89 Notice also the very strong dependence of the absorption cross-section upon the atomic number Z.
2008 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 25 July a3 Living tissue is vulnerable to electromagnetic fields within the frequency bands used by cellphones. He argues kids have a higher absorption rate because their brains are still developing.
b. attributive. Designating a refrigeration system in which cooling is produced by the evaporation of a liquid (typically ammonia), the vapour of which is absorbed by another liquid and subsequently deabsorbed under the action of an external heat source; relating to or employing such a system.Refrigeration systems of this kind are typically used in air conditioners or in the cooling of industrial machinery.
ΚΠ
1865 U.S. Patent 50,212 2/1 It is therefore necessary to employ..a device to restitute or return from the absorption-vessel to the boiler the liquid, which shall have been charged again with ammoniacal vapour.
1893 Ice & Refrigeration Nov. 338/2 The only perfect automatic absorption refrigeration system extant.
1911 National Provisioner 17 June 22/3 Instead of uselessly heating the water in the condenser, why should not the absorption refrigeration machine be put in its place?
1948 Pop. Sci. Monthly July 69/1 (advt.) All the detailed basic information necessary to maintain, service, and repair electrical and absorption refrigerators.
2007 Atlantic Monthly June 20/2 Absorption cooling made headway in the United States until the first oil embargo.
C2.
absorption band n. Physics a dark region in the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation transmitted through a substance, due to absorption in a particular range of wavelengths; cf. absorption spectrum n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [noun] > dark region in spectrum of white light
absorption band1852
1852 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 142 489 The places of the more conspicuous bands of absorption were indicated by dark teeth... The places of the absorption bands Nos. 1, 2 and 4, were perfectly evident.
1919 Chem. Engineer Mar. 74/1 The intensity and breadth of the absorption bands of the various dyes are, in general, less in the ultra violet than in the visible part of the spectrum.
2009 Space Daily (Nexis) 3 Apr. Dust clouds can smooth out many of the spectral features that would otherwise be there—including water absorption bands.
absorption centre n. (in Israel) a residential building providing temporary accommodation and other services for newly arrived Jewish immigrants; cf. sense 5.
ΚΠ
1950 Zion Jan.–Feb. 23/1 New educational and absorption centres were established.
1973 Jewish Chron. 2 Feb. 13/1 The absorption centre where she first stays strikes her as cramped and chaotic.
2007 Transition No. 97. 64 Abate..lived in an absorption center when he first made aliyah from Ethiopia in 1999.
absorption coefficient n. Physics any of various numerical quantities expressing the degree to which a substance absorbs something.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical properties > [noun] > quality of being absorbable > something which absorbs > numerical quantity expressing the degree to which
absorption coefficient1855
1855 tr. R. Bunsen in London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 9 116 The volume of gas, reduced to 0° and 0m.76 pressure of mercury, which is absorbed by the unit volume of a liquid, under the pressure of 0m.76 is called the absorption-coefficient, or coefficient of absorption.
1947 Radiology 49 320/2 The absorption coefficient of the particular beta emission used.
2005 R. E. Newnham Properties of Materials xxvi. 289 The absorption coefficients and colors are remarkably different for light polarized in different directions.
absorption costing n. Business a method of calculating the cost of a product or enterprise by taking into account all anticipated production expenses, including overheads.
ΚΠ
1953 Nat. Assoc. Cost Accountants Bull. 34 1081 This company has continued to use absorption costing in arriving at inventory costs.
1969 D. C. Hague Managerial Econ. xiii. 290 There is nothing absorption costing can do that marginal costing, properly handled, cannot.
2006 Irish Times (Nexis) 20 June 6 Questions on ‘absorption costing’, ‘variances’ and ‘controllable and uncontrollable costs’ may have taken some students by surprise.
absorption factor n. a numerical quantity expressing the degree to which something is absorbed; (Physics) = absorptance n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > heat > [noun] > absorption
absorption factor1868
absorptance1922
1868 Rep. Cholera Epidemic 1866 Eng. p. lxxviii The absorption factor e is thus deduced: Let a′ be the factor expressing the velocity of intestinal absorption in the normal condition.
1876 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 5th Ser. 2 344 After Cauchy, we put the absorption-factor of the amplitude equal to eβx.
1922 P. D. Foote & F. L. Mohler Origin of Spectra v. 147 The absorption factor increases with the concentration.
2003 D. H. Goldstein Polarized Light (ed. 2) vi. 89 In order to obtain an accurate measurement of the Stokes parameters the absorption factor must be introduced.
absorption line n. Physics a dark line in the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation transmitted through a substance, due to absorption at a particular wavelength; cf. absorption spectrum n., Fraunhofer lines n. at Fraunhofer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > decomposition of light, spectrum > [noun] > system of absorption bands > dark lines of
dark line1802
absorption line1861
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > band or line forming part of > specific line or lines
absorption line1861
triplet1879
furnace line1911
singlet1920
progression1926
1861 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 82 106 This apparatus..answers equally well for observations on the solar spectrum, on the absorption lines of liquids and gases [etc.].
1928 D. Brunt Meteorol. v. 39 Each element in the absorbing medium produces its own set of dark absorption lines.
2001 D. Weldrake in P. Moore 2002 Yearbk. Astron. ii. 181 Such a rapid rotation of the star would cause a significant broadening of the stellar absorption lines.
absorption spectrum n. Physics a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation transmitted through a substance, showing dark lines or bands due to absorption at specific wavelengths.Analysis of such spectra can be used to determine the chemical composition of a body (e.g. a star), as particular atoms and molecules have a characteristic set of wavelengths at which they absorb electromagnetic radiation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > decomposition of light, spectrum > [noun] > system of absorption bands
absorption spectrum1864
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > types of
Fraunhofer spectrum1837
gas spectrum1859
interference spectrum1860
flame spectrum1862
absorption spectrum1864
fluorescence spectrum1867
band spectrum1869
comparison spectrum1877
infra-red1881
emission spectrum1888
X-ray spectrum1910
1864 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 27 45 I endeavoured last year to establish a comparison of the absorption spectra of iodine, bromine, and hyponitric acid, with the spectra of the flames in which these vapours are incandescent.
1926 Science 4 June 576/2 The large number of absorption bands exhibited by both neodymium and samarium would tend to mask its [sc. illinium's] absorption spectrum.
2007 M. Dowd Thank God Evol. (2008) v. 90 Scientists can study the absorption spectra to see which chemical elements in the star's own body are absorbing distinctive wavelengths of light.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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