Adsorbers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Materials or units that collect and hold molecules of a gas or liquid on their outer surfaces through physical attraction
2. Substances or equipment designed to trap other molecules onto a solid surface so they stick there rather than passing through
3. Components used in filtration and purification that bind contaminants to their surface area as a fluid passes over them

Etymology: "Adsorbers" is the plural of "adsorber", a noun formed in English by adding the agent suffix "-er" to the verb "adsorb". The verb itself is built from the Latin prefix "ad-", meaning "to" or "toward", and "sorb", from Latin "sorbere", "to suck up" or "to soak in". So the root idea is of drawing something toward a surface and holding it there, which is the physical process the word names. The suffix carries a longer history. The "-er" ending descends from Latin "-arius", which denoted a person or thing connected with an activity, and it passed into Old English as "-ere" and later became the familiar English "-er". Because English can attach it to almost any verb, it is one of the most productive ways of coining agent nouns, and "adsorber" follows that pattern.

Synonyms: adsorbent