Definition of: absorption

(ab·sôrp′shən, -zôrp′-) noun
1. The act of absorbing or the condition of being absorbed.
2. Physics a The process by which a liquid or gas is taken into the interstices of a porous substance and held there. b The transformation of any emission as it passes through a material substance.
3. Engrossment of the mind; preoccupation.
4. Assimilation, as by incorporation or by the digestive process.
—ab·sorp′tive adjective
—ab·sorp′tive·ness, ab′·sorp·tiv′i·ty noun [<L absorptio, -onis <absorbere.
See ABSORB.]