absorption meaning

Noun: absorption  ub'sorpshun

1. (chemistry) a process in which one substance permeates another; a fluid permeates or is dissolved by a liquid or solid
   - soaking up 
2. (physics) the process in which incident radiated energy is retained without reflection or transmission on passing through a medium
   "the absorption of photons by atoms or molecules" 
3. The social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another
   - assimilation 
4. The process of absorbing nutrients into the body after digestion
   - assimilation 
5. Complete attention; intense mental effort
   - concentration, engrossment, immersion 
6. The mental state of being preoccupied by something
   - preoccupation, preoccupancy, engrossment

Derived forms: absorptions

See also: absorb

Type of: action, activity, attention, biological process, cognitive state, natural action, natural process, organic process, social process, sorption, state of mind

Part of: extinction

Encyclopedia: Absorption

[Architecture]
1.

The process by which a liquid, or a mixture of gases and liquid, is drawn into and tends to fill permeable pores in a porous solid material; usually accompanied by a physical change, chemical change, or both, of the material.

2.

The increase in weight of a porous solid body resulting from the penetration of liquid into its permeable pores.

3.

The increase in weight of a brick or tile unit when immersed in either cold or boiling water for a stated length of time; expressed as a percentage of the weight of the dry unit.

4.

The process by which radiant energy, which is incident on a surface, is converted to other forms of energy.

5.

See sound absorption.

6.

See light absorption.

[Business]
AmE ; / noun [U]

the act of a larger company taking in a smaller company so that it becomes part of it:

The mergers they planned included the absorption of two small banks.

[Economics]
The total of expenditure on real goods and services, for consumption, investment, and by the government. Absorption is the use of output: it excludes exports and includes imports. This is contrasted with production, which includes exports and excludes imports. The absorption approach to devaluation looks at its effects on various forms of expenditure, and points out that devaluation can only improve the balance of payments on current account if production increases relative to absorption.

[Electronics]
The taking up of one material or medium by another into itself, as by sucking or soaking up. Also, the retention of one medium (or a part of it) by another medium, through which the first one attempts to pass. See, for example, ABSORBED WAVE, ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT, DIELECTRIC ABSORPTION. Compare ADSORPTION.

[Medicine]
The taking in or incorporation of gaseous or liquid substances,light,or heat. It includes the metabolic absorption of exogenous nutrients,chemicals,and drugs into microorganisms,tissues,and organs. n
1 : the process of absorbing or of being absorbed ‹absorption of nourishment in the small intestine› —compare ADSORPTION
2 : interception of radiant energy or sound waves

Examples

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1. chemical absorption is seldom reversible.
2. attenuation of light is in the form of absorption.
3. interference by support absorption is a problem.
4. he painted the lid of the piano with absorption.
5. the absorption isotherms are equilibrium equations.