Word Confusion: Absorb versus Adsorb

Posted October 23, 2017 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
16 Oct 2022

Most of the time I’m like a sponge: I absorb information. Other times, well, I adsorb it, and it just lies there on the surface without soaking in.

Okay, okay, I’m exaggerating. No, not about myself, but about the exact definition. The adsorb part is usually a gas and is generally one molecule thick on that surface, and I think it’s easier to compare the differences by imagining a sponge that sucks up the water and absorbs it while brushing varnish onto a piece of furniture is more like adsorbing it.

Just remember to translate that adsorption image into a gas *grin*

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Absorb	Adsorb
Tan by Evil Erin under the CC BY-2.0 license, via Flickr. — I’d say she absorbed some sun today.	NASA Technology Protects Webb Telescope from Contamination is courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, Maryland, USA, under the CC BY 2.0 license or public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — “The Molecular Adsorber Coating (MAC) is a NASA Goddard coatings technology that was developed to adsorb or entrap outgassed molecular contaminants for spaceflight applications.”
Part of Grammar:
Verb, transitive Third person present verb: absorbs Past tense or past participle: absorbed Present participle: absorbing	Verb, intransitive & transitive Third person present verb: adsorbs Past tense or past participle: adsorbed Present participle: adsorbing
Soaks in Take in or soak up (energy, or a liquid or other substance) by chemical or physical action, typically gradually Soak up Take in and assimilate (information, ideas, or experience) Take control of (a smaller or less powerful entity), making it a part of oneself by assimilation Incorporate To take up or receive by chemical or molecular action Use, occupy, or take up (time or resources) Take up and reduce the effect or intensity of (sound or an impact) Engross the attention of someone	Forms on the surface in a thin film Verb: [Medicine] To take up by the adhesion in an extremely thin layer of molecules (as of gases, solutes, or liquids) to the surfaces of solid bodies or liquids with which they are in contact To undergo or cause to undergo a process in which a substance, usually a gas, accumulates on the surface of a solid forming a thin film, often only one molecule thick Verb, intransitive: To become adhered in an extremely thin layer of molecules (as of gases, solutes, or liquids) to the surfaces of solid bodies or liquids with which they are in contact Verb, transitive: [Physical Chemistry; of a solid] Hold (molecules of a gas or liquid or dissolved substance) as a thin, condensed film on the outside surface or on internal surfaces within the material
Examples:
Buildings can be designed to absorb and retain heat. Steroids are absorbed into the bloodstream. She absorbed the information in silence. The family firm was absorbed into a larger group. The empire absorbed many small nations. Arms spending absorbs roughly two percent of the national income. Deep-pile carpets absorbed all sound of the outside world. The work absorbed him and continued to make him happy. I can get so absorbed in a book that I don’t hear what’s going on around me. I kept thinking about that old Bounty commercial: the quicker picker-upper as it absorbed the spilled liquid. Carbonic acid is formed when water absorbs carbon dioxide. It took awhile before Mary absorbed the shock from the incident. The market absorbed all the computers we could build. Can your brain absorb all this information?	Verb, intransitive: “Russia also insisted in its Paris submission that it be given the maximum potential credit for carbon adsorbed out of the atmosphere by Siberia’s vast undeveloped forests” Biesecker). Verb, transitive: Charcoal will not adsorb nitrates. The dye is adsorbed onto the fiber. We can adsorb hydrogen on nickel while oxygen adsorbs on tungsten.
Derivatives:
Adjective: absorbable, absorbed, absorbent, absorbing, absorptive, nonabsorbable Adverb: absorbedly, absorbingly Noun: absorbability, absorbance, absorbency, absorbent, absorber, absorbing, absorption, nonabsorbability Verb, transitive: overabsorb	Adjective: adsorbable, adsorbent, adsorptive Noun: adsorbability, adsorbate, adsorbent, adsorbing, adsorption
History of the Word:
Late Middle English from the Latin absorbere, from ab- (from) + sorbere (suck in).	Late 19th century, as a blend of ad- (expressing adherence) + absorb.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Absorb versus Adsorb

Apple Dictionary.com

Biesecker, Michael. “Unlike Others, Putin Doesn’t Criticize Trump Over Decision.” Washington Post. 3 June 2017. Web. n.d. <https://financialpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/putin-dont-worry-be-happy-as-trump-ditches-climate-deal>.

Dictionary.com: adsorb

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