Submerges

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To entirely conceal beneath a fluid's surface, causing an object to be wholly enveloped by water or another liquid medium
2. To cause an entity to be fully surrounded and hidden by a liquid, resulting in a state of complete immersion
3. To place something so that it is fully under the surface of a liquid such as water

Etymology: "Submerges" is the third-person singular form of the verb "submerge," so it simply describes one subject sinking something fully beneath a liquid's surface. The verb itself is a borrowing from Latin "submergere," built from "sub" meaning "under" and "mergere" meaning "to plunge." The "merge" in "submerge" is the same Latin root that gives us a more familiar English verb, though "merge" came into English through a different path, and the two words carry the core sense of dipping or plunging into something. Latin "mergere" originally described the physical act of plunging or dipping an object into water, and "submergere" added the idea of driving it downward, beneath the surface. English kept that concrete, watery meaning, so the verb has always been tied to bodies of liquid rather than to abstract sinking.

Synonyms: dips, immerses

Antonyms: emerges, rises