absorption
ab·sorp·tion/æbˈsɔɹp.ʃn̩/noun
absorption is spelled A-B-S-O-R-P-T-I-O-N, 3 syllables: ab·sorp·tion. The wrong spelling people search most is absorbtion: about 320 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 2 in 10 of all searches for the word. Absorption is a noun meaning “The act or process of absorbing or of being absorbed as”. The plural of absorption is absorptions.
How many letters and syllables are in absorption?
| Letters | 10: A-B-S-O-R-P-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ab·sorp·tion |
| In writing | 4.6 times per million words; the 11,870th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, absorbtion, about 320 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell absorption?
Absorption is spelled A-B-S-O-R-P-T-I-O-N. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for absorption in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is absorption?
Absorption appears 4.6 times per million words in written English, the 11,870th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce absorption?
- UK /əbˈzɔːp.ʃn̩/
- UK /əbˈsɔːp.ʃn̩/
- US /æbˈsɔɹp.ʃn̩/
Absorption has 3 syllables, split ab·sorp·tion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-absorption.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of absorption
- absorptions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does absorption mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act or process of absorbing or of being absorbed as,
The sponge showed remarkable absorption of water.
- 2
obsoleteengulfing; swallowing up, as of bodies or land.
- 3
assimilation; incorporation.
the absorption of a smaller tribe into a larger
- 4
the imbibing or reception by molecular or chemical action, of radiant energy; the process of being neutrons being absorbed by the nucleus; interception.
the absorption of light, heat, electricity, etc.
- 5
The process in which incident radiant energy is retained by a substance (such as an air mass) by conversion to some other form of energy (such as heat).
- 6
in living organisms, the process by which the materials of growth and nutrition are absorbed and conveyed to the tissues and organs; taking in by various means, such as by osmosis.
- 7
Entire engrossment or occupation of the mind.
absorption in some employment
- 8
Mental assimilation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate absorption?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of absorption: abp.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Absorption in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | absorption |
| German | Absorption , Vertiefung |
| Portuguese | absorção , concentração |
| Spanish | absorción , concentración |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does absorption come from?
First attested in 1597. From Latin absorptiō (“a sucking in”), from absorbeō (“absorb”). Morphologically absorb + -tion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).