absorption

Forms

absorption f (plural absorptions)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin absorptiō (“engulfing”), a word of Christian Latin found from Saint Augustine on, formed on the supine of absorbeō (“to swallow up”).^[2][3][4][5] That verb comes from sorbeō (“to swallow”), the source of absorber and résorber.^[6] In its physical sense the French noun serves as the noun of action of that verb.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1586 as a religious term, in N. Le Cerf's translation of the mystic Heinrich Suso, for the rapture of the soul united with God: en certaine ecstase, absorption ou ravissement “in a certain ecstasy, absorption or rapture”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the mystical sense the word passed into common use as the noun of absorber in its proper sense, little used in the 18th century; it spread from the middle of that century in physiology and was then used in physics (before 1863).^[2][3] Today it is the act of absorbing, of swallowing or breathing in something, and figuratively of making something disappear by taking it over, including the merger of one company into another.^[7][8] It can also mean being wholly lost in one's thoughts.^[8] At the École polytechnique it was 19th-century slang for the hazing of new students.^[9]

Timeline

• 1586 – First record, of the soul's rapture in God.^[2][3]
• Mid-18th century – It spreads as a term of physiology.^[3]
• Before 1863 – It is used in physics.^[3]
• 1878 – Polytechnicians' slang uses it for hazing.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The action of absorbing;^[7][2] (physiology) the passage of digested food into the blood and lymph;^[7][2] (physics) the loss of intensity of radiation passing through a medium.^[7][2]
2. The act of eating, drinking, swallowing or breathing in something, especially something unusual or harmful: ingestion.^[7][8]
3. (figurative) The act of making something disappear by taking it in;^[7][8] (finance) the merger of a company into another.^[7][8]
4. (figurative) The state of being wholly absorbed in one's thoughts.^[8]

Related words

• absorber
• résorption
• résorber
• Latin absorptiō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 56b
6. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF