absorption
/əbˈzɔːpʃ(ə)n
/ /əbˈsɔːpʃ(ə)n/noun [mass noun]
1The process by which one thing absorbs or is absorbed by another: the country’s absorption into the Ottoman Empire shock absorption...
- Nor is it merely that their absorption into domesticity makes functional sense in a commercial and industrial society.
- But milk appeared to inhibit the antioxidant potential of the flavonoids, reducing their absorption into the bloodstream.
- From a British point of view, further absorption into the European Union will be a disaster.
Synonyms
soaking up, sucking up, drawing up/in, taking up/in, blotting up, mopping up, sponging up, sopping up
technical osmosis
incorporation, assimilation, integration, appropriation, taking in, subsuming, inclusion, co-opting, swallowing up
reduction, decrease, lessening, softening, deadening, cushioning;
soaking up
2The state of being engrossed in something: her absorption in the problems of the Third World...
- Wilder captures the childlike adoration of the father and absorption in the way the world works.
- There is a memorable letter of 1910 in which he justifies his total absorption in composition, and gives a unique account of the genesis of two of his works.
- The sports talk station gives you a succession of men whose absorption in a fantasy world is, to me, borderline insane.
Synonyms
immersion, intentness, raptness, involvement, engrossment, occupation, engagement, preoccupation, captivation, monopolization;
fascination, enthralment, interest
Derivatives
absorptive
/ /əbˈsɔːptɪv / adjective ...- While Indonesia clearly needs more official capital inflow at this time (in the face of continuing private capital outflow), the absorptive capacity for new ODA loans is apparently reaching its limits.
- Far from stopping, or at least curtailing immigration, the British government increased by ten per cent the allowed ‘economic absorptive capacity’ for Jewish immigration.
- However, the absorptive capacity in the Scottish economy is insufficient to retain most of them.
absorptivity
- The absorptivity of the extractable phenols does extend to the UV-A and UV sensitivity of isolated spinach thylakoids and the green alga Dunaliella salina extends into the UV-A waveband.
- To improve water solubility and red absorptivity of hypocrellins, a series of hypocrellin derivatives have been synthesized in the last 20 years, among which are the amino-substituted hypocrellins.
- The overall calculated frequency dependence of the absorbances shown in Fig.4 is in fairly good agreement with the experiment; however, they do not reproduce the observation that WT has higher absorptivity than D96N in this region.
Origin
Late 16th century (in the sense 'the swallowing up of something'): from Latin absorptio(n-), from absorbere 'swallow up' (see absorb).