Absorbent

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /əbˈsɔː.bn̩t/

Definitions

1. A characteristic of certain materials that allows them to take in and retain liquids or gases through their surface or structure
2. A type of material or surface that has the ability to soak up liquids or gases efficiently and retain them for a period of time
3. Having the property to take in moisture or other fluids through surface contact and hold them within the material

Etymology: Absorbent comes from Latin "absorbēns," the present active participle of "absorbeō," meaning "to suck in" or "swallow up." That verb is built from "ab-," "away" or "down," and "sorbeō," "to suck up or gulp down," which is also the root behind English "sorbet," a word that reached English through Italian and Turkish from the same family of ideas about drinking and sipping. The Latin verb carried the sense of something being drawn in and swallowed whole, and the English adjective keeps that picture of a material that takes in liquid. English took the word as "absorb," and the adjective "absorbent" follows the same pattern, describing things quick to soak up liquid, such as cloth or paper. Its literal sense of drinking in moisture remains the core meaning, and the figurative use for a mind or attention that takes things in grew from the same image.

Synonyms: sorbent, soaking, spongy, permeable, sopping

Antonyms: impermeable, non-absorbent, dry, leaky, watertight