absorbentadj.n.
/əbˈzɔːb(ə)nt/, /əbˈsɔːb(ə)nt/, U.S. /əbˈzɔrb(ə)nt/, /æbˈzɔrb(ə)nt/, /əbˈsɔrb(ə)nt/, /æbˈsɔrb(ə)nt/ A. adj.
1. Having the property of absorbing something; esp. capable of soaking up liquids; of or relating to absorption or absorbency. In early use also (Chemistry and Medicine): †capable of neutralizing acid; soluble in acid; alkaline (obsolete). Cf. sense B. 1a.
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the world > matter > liquid > action or process of absorbing > [adjective]
soakingc1440
drinking1583
spongy1609
bibbing1633
absorptive1664
absorbing1666
bibulous1676
absorbent1694
insorbent1756
hygroscopic1790
obsorbent1902
1694 R. Blome tr. A. Le Grand Entire Body Philos. i. viii. xxiii. 314/2 In this Distemper adstringent and absorbent Medicins are commended, especially joyned with Opiates.
1718 J. Quincy Pharmacopœia Officinalis 81 It is both detergent and absorbent.
1787 G. Winter New Syst. Husbandry 51 Chalk is an absorbent earth.
1825 Edinb. Jrnl. Sci. Apr. 347 He [sc. Herschel] has observed different glasses to be differently affected by heat, some having their absorbent powers increased and others diminished.
1869 J. Phillips Vesuvius v. 140 Rain sinks in some considerable proportion into the absorbent soil.
1882 Med. Press & Circular 26 Apr. 356/2 This crackling sensation..is a fair test that the wools are fresh and that their absorbent properties have not been deteriorated by exposure to damp and moisture.
1924 Sci. Amer. Sept. 165/1 Professor Sabine invented an acoustic tile that is many times as absorbent as the usual masonry surfaces.
1941 Times 29 Oct. 7/3 We have sent..about seven tons of absorbent cotton-wool.
1989 Woman's Realm 11 Apr. 11/3 The old fashioned towelling nappies are actually more absorbent.
2001 L. Ulrich Age of Homespun i. 46 Rushes..when combined with other fibers, such as the soft inner bast of cedar, could be woven into soft and absorbent mats.
2. Physiology and Botany. Involved in the physiological process of absorption (absorption n. 9); belonging or relating to the lymphatic system (in animals) or the xylem (in plants). Cf. sense B. 2. Now rare and chiefly historical.absorbent system: see Compounds.
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the world > life > biology > biological processes > absorption or assimilation (of a substance, etc.) > [adjective]
attractivea1398
introsumptive1657
absorbent1726
intussusceptive1882
1726 tr. J.-L. Petit Treat. Dis. Bones i. xvi. 197 Neither have we any Signs whereby to discover the Obstruction of the absorbent Glands [Fr. glandes absorbantes].
1753 P. Shaw tr. H. Boerhaave New Method Chem. (ed. 3) I. 135 The root then is furnished with absorbent vessels,..by which the nutritious moisture is imbibed.
1807 R. Morris & J. Kendrick Edinb. Med. & Physical Dict. I. at Cancer Mr. Pearson asserts, that he never met with an unequivocal proof of a primary scirrhus in an absorbent gland.
1839 Brit. & Foreign Med. Rev. 8 518 The absorbent function is the opposite of secretion, and must be performed by a different class of vessels.
1851 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 12 ii. 523 Irritation and inflammation of the absorbent vessels and glands..constituting the disease [of horses] termed weed.
1907 I. Vaughan Strangeways' Vet. Anat. (ed. 8) 449 These are called lymphatic vessels, because they convey a clear limpid fluid; or absorbent vessels, because they absorb alimentary matter.
1983 Jrnl. Hist. Biol. 16 92 He referred, for instance, to the researches of William Cruikshank and William Hunter on the anatomy of the absorbent vessels, only to reject them.
B. n.
1.
a. A substance, object, etc., that absorbs or is capable of absorbing something (esp. liquid). In early use also (Medicine and Chemistry): †an alkaline substance; an antacid (obsolete).
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the world > matter > liquid > dryness > [noun] > making dry > drying by specific method > absorbent substance
sucker1605
absorbent1698
saturant1755
kitchen paper?1782
absorbefacient1833
kitchen roll1931
1698 T. Emes Dialogue Alkali & Acid 32 Besides, the Cure of Ulcers, Itch, Erysipelas's, &c. which I have often done by Absorbents and manifest Alkalies, arguing Acids to abound in these Cases.
1718 J. Quincy Pharmacopœia Officinalis 79 Dryers, or Absorbents,..prevent those superfluous Moistures, which the Nerves are frequently overcharg'd with.
1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. ii. 433 But the safest absorbent which we know is the magnesia alba.
1845 C. Darwin Jrnl. (ed. 2) xi. 249 The clouded sky seldom allows the sun to warm the ocean, itself a bad absorbent of heat.
1871 Small Fruit Rec. Mar. 45/1 Some will say night soil is too unpleasant to handle; so it is, if not mixed with some dry absorbent.
1917 G. Martin & W. Barbour Industr. Nitrogen Compounds & Explosives (ed. 2) ix. 97 Among dynamites with combustible absorbents may be mentioned Reid and Borland's carbo-dynamite in which burnt cork charcoal is used.
1934 A. H. R. Goldie Abercromby's Weather (rev. ed.) iii. 65 Other gases present in the atmosphere in very small quantities, namely, carbon dioxide and ozone, are important absorbents of certain kinds of radiation.
1990 New Scientist 30 June 40/3 Such ‘absorption’ refrigerators then release the coolant from the absorbent by applying heat, the main input of energy to the system.
2002 Org. Life May 20/3 Most disposable nappies contain artificial chemical absorbents such as sodium polyacrylate.
b. figurative.
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1772 G. A. Stevens Songs Comic & Satyrical lxxxvi. 161 If Wives will be Harlots why let them, An Absorbent we'll find in a Bottle of Red, An Opiate by which we forget them.
a1854 Ld. Cockburn Memorials (1856) iv. 220 The country gentlemen, the absorbents of every prejudice.
1885 T. Mozley Reminisc. I. xlviii. 302 He was simply an absorbent, and..would never talk about what he had been reading.
1920 H. G. Wells Outl. Hist. (1921) II. viii. xxxvi. 253 These Eastern European regions are great absorbents of energy.
2001 S. D. Houston et al. Decipherm. Anc. Maya Writing Epil. 506 Jobs in art history, lately an absorbent of epigraphic talent, will soon reach saturation.
2. Physiology and Botany. A vessel involved in the physiological process of absorption; a lacteal or lymphatic (in an animal); a xylem vessel (in a plant). Now historical and rare.
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the world > animals > animal body > general parts > internal organs and systems > [noun] > vessels for absorption
absorbent1734
the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > tissue > vessel(s)
vesicle1670
vessel1672
air vessel1673
tubule1677
vesicula1705
absorbent1734
follicle1760
vital vessels1832
spiral1837
vas1843
vacuole1853
cyst1866
1734 Med. Ess. & Observ. (Philos. Soc. Edinb.) II. 132 In Health the Quantity of such Liquors is moderate, and a pretty constant Equality is kept between the Action of the Exhalants and of the Absorbents.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Naturalists speak of the like Absorbents in plants; the fibrous or hairy roots of which are considered as a kind of vasa Absorbentia.
1795 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 86 29 Absorbents..which terminated by open orifices.
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 20/1 The absorbents..were among the organs which were the latest in being discovered by anatomists.
1850 Jrnl. Agric. Mar. 322 Not a particle of solid, or even of dissolved colouring matter could pass into the absorbents of the root.
1900 D. C. Kimber Text-bk. Anat. & Physiol. for Nurses xi. 119 The absorbents may be divided into two sets: the lacteals, which absorb the milk-like fluid, called chyle, from the intestines and carry it to the thoracic duct; and the lymphatics proper.
1928 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 11 Aug. 230/2 Monro and Hunter suggested that the lymphatics were the absorbents of the body.
3. A material or structure that absorbs sound.
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1856 J. W. Let. 25 June in Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 19 220/1 The trees, the branches and the leaves, are most perfect interceptors, while they are sufficiently hard and smooth, or ‘semi-polished’, to be non-absorbents of sound.]
1858 J. Baron Let. Nov. in Scudamore Organs: Further Steps ii. 12 Thirdly, the chancel being only occupied by the clergy and choir, it is comparatively unencumbered by absorbents and impediments; which is highly beneficial to the tone.
1934 Discovery June 155/2 Carpets are much more effective as absorbents at the lower frequencies [of sound] when they are used with underfelts.
1988 V. Capel Audio & Hi-Fi Engineer's Pocket Bk. 30 Standing waves can be reduced by fitting absorbents on one of the opposite pairs of walls, but not so much as to excessively reduce reverberation time.
2006 Architects Jrnl. (Nexis) 26 Oct. There are acoustic absorbents on some of the interior surfaces.
Compounds
absorbent cotton n. originally U.S. cotton that has been cleaned and treated to increase its absorbency, originally developed for surgical dressings.
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1878 Retrospect Pract. Med. & Surg. 76 15 (advt.) Dennison's Absorbent Cotton. This Cotton, prepared from the best material, for use as a Surgical Dressing, commends itself on account of its purity, uniformity of texture, and its property as an absorbent.
1920 Amer. Woman Aug. 9/2 Wet a small piece of absorbent cotton and sop this on the nose, twice a day for three days and then once a day.
2000 Brandon (Manitoba) Sun 8 Apr. 19/1 Absorbent cotton will stick to an open wound.
absorbent system n. Physiology and Botany (now rare) a system of vessels carrying out the physiological process of absorption; the lymphatic system (in animals); the xylem (in plants).
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1770 A. Monro State of Facts 14 I endeavoured, in the first place, to prove that the lymphatics formed an absorbent system.
1837 Brit. & Foreign Med. Rev. 4 15 The earth has been justly spoken of as the common stomach of plants, supplying them with nutriment ready to be taken up by their absorbent system.
1884 F. T. Roberts Theory & Pract. Med. (ed. 5) lxv. 781 The absorbent system occupies a prominent place in relation to several pathological processes and conditions.
1908 Sunset May 89 One hour of soaking in tepid water is enough to resurrect this remarkable plant.., as the fluid permeates its absorbent system it becomes a bright green.
1920 Med. Rec. 23 Oct. 678/2 All mammals have a highly developed lymphatic or absorbent system.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1694