Pronunciation

• IPA : /əbs"ɔː(r)bənt/
• SAMPA : /@bs'O:(r)b@nt/

Etymology

Latin absorbens, past preterite of absorbere.

Adjective

1. Absorbing; swallowing ; absorptive.

   Example

   • Those paper towels were amazingly absorbent. That was quite a spill.

   Derived term

   • Absorbent ground (Painting): a ground prepared for a picture, chiefly with distemper, or water colors, by which the oil is absorbed, and a brilliancy is imparted to the colors.

Translations

• Dutch: absorberend , wateropnemend
• French: absorbant
• German: saugfähig
• Interlingua: absorbente
• Italian: assorbente
• Latin: absorbens
• Portuguese: absorvente m & f
• Spanish: absorbente
• Volapük: nüsugik
• Русский: адсорбент, гигроскопичный

Noun

1. Anything which absorbs.

   Quotations

   • The ocean, itself a bad absorbent of heat. - Darwin

2. (Medicine): Any substance which absorbs and neutralizes acid fluid in the stomach and bowels, as magnesia, chalk, etc.; also a substance e. g., iodine) which acts on the absorbent vessels so as to reduce enlarged and indurated parts.
3. (plural, Physiology): The vessels by which the processes of absorption are carried on, as the lymphatics in animals, the extremities of the roots in plants.

Translations

• Interlingua: absorbente (1)
• Portuguese: absorvente m (1)