Etymology
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absorb (v.)

"to drink in, suck up, take in by absorption," early 15c., from Old French absorbir, assorbir (13c., Modern French absorber), from Latin absorbere "to swallow up, devour," from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + sorbere "suck in," from PIE root *srebh- "to suck, absorb" (source also of Armenian arbi "I drank," Greek rhopheo "to sup greedily up, gulp down," Lithuanian srebiu, srėbti "to drink greedily"). Figurative meaning "to completely grip (one's) attention" is from 1763.

Origin and meaning of absorb

Entries linking to absorb

ab- 

word-forming element meaning "away, from, from off, down," denoting disjunction, separation, departure; from Latin ab (prep.) "off, away from" in reference to space or distance, also of time, from PIE root *apo- "off, away" (also the source of Greek apo "off, away from, from," Sanskrit apa "away from," Gothic af, English of, off; see apo-).

The Latin word also denoted "agency by; source, origin; relation to, in consequence of." Since classical times usually reduced to a- before -m-, -p-, or -v-; typically abs- before -c-, -q-, or -t-.

absorbed (adj.)

"engrossed mentally," 1760, past-participle adjective in a figurative sense from absorb (v.). Related: Absorbedly.

updated on October 13, 2021

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Dictionary entries near absorb

absoluteness

absolution

absolutism

absolutist

absolve

absorb

absorbed

absorbency

absorbent

absorbing

absorption

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