Absorbency

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /æbˈsɔɹ.bn̩.si/

Definitions

1. The quality or ability of a material to soak up and retain liquids
2. The characteristic of a substance to absorb moisture or fluids efficiently
3. A measure of how well an object or material takes in and holds liquids

Etymology: Absorbency is a fairly recent formation, built on "absorbance" by adding the English suffix "-y." The core is the Latin verb "absorbeō," meaning "to swallow up" or "to drink in," itself made from "ab-" ("away, off") and "sorbeō" ("to suck in or swallow"). The Latin verb passed into Old French as "assorbir" and then into Middle French as "absorber," before English borrowed it as "absorb." The noun "absorbance" follows a separate path through Latin "-antia," which gave Old French "-ance" and Middle English "-aunce," later simplified to the modern "-ance." Absorbance was then joined to the suffix "-y," which in Middle English was spelled "-ie" or "-y" and which was used to turn adjectives and nouns into abstract nouns of quality. The result, absorbency, names the property itself rather than an action or a single instance of soaking up liquid.

Synonyms: absorption, permeability, sorption, capacity, retention