absorption

UK: /əbˈzɔː^rpʃ^ən/

US: /æbˈsɔrpʃən, -ˈzɔrp-/

US: (ab sôrp′shən, -zôrp′-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ab•sorp•tion /æbˈsɔrpʃən, -ˈzɔrp-/   n. [uncountable]

1. the process of absorbing or being absorbed.
2. complete involvement:
   She read her book with total absorption.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ab•sorp•tion  (ab sôrp′shən, -zôrp′-), n. 

1. the act of absorbing.
2. the state or process of being absorbed.
3. assimilation;
   incorporation:
   the absorption of small farms into one big one.
4. Physiology uptake of substances by a tissue, as of nutrients through the wall of the intestine.
5. Chemistry a taking in or reception by molecular or chemical action, as of gases or liquids.
6. Physics the removal of energy or particles from a beam by the medium through which the beam propagates.
7. complete attention or preoccupation;
   deep engrossment:
   absorption in one's work.

• Latin absorptiōn- (stem of absorptiō), equivalent. to absorpt(us), past participle of absorbēre to absorb + -iōn- -ion
• 1590–1600

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

absorption / əbˈsɔːpʃən -ˈzɔːp-/ noun

1. the process of absorbing or the state of being absorbed
2. normal assimilation by the tissues of the products of digestion
3. the passage of a gas, fluid, drug, etc, through the mucous membranes or skin

Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin absorptiōn-, from absorbēre to absorb

abˈsorptive adjective