Resorb

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To take in again materials that were previously absorbed by an organism
2. To undergo a process wherein previously absorbed substances are assimilated again by the body or an organism
3. To take back substances previously absorbed into an organism for reuse or disposal

Etymology: The verb "resorb" is built from two Latin parts. The prefix "re-" means "again" or "back," and "sorbere" means "to suck in" or "to swallow." Put together, "resorbere" describes drawing something back into a body after it has been taken in. That literal picture, of something sucked in and then pulled back, is the core of the English sense: the body absorbs a substance and later takes it back for reuse or disposal. English took the word from Latin directly, so it arrived as a learned term rather than through everyday speech. Its shape follows a common pattern in which the prefix "re-" is attached to a verb of absorbing, as in "absorb" itself, which comes from the same "sorbere" root. The two words share a family resemblance: "absorb" draws a substance in, while "resorb" describes the return movement.

Synonyms: reabsorb, reintegrate

Antonyms: expel, release