Word of the Day

: August 23, 2011

imbibition

noun im-buh-BIH-shun

What It Means

: the act or action of imbibing; especially : the taking up of fluid by a colloidal system resulting in swelling

imbibition in Context

The sign at the entrance to the building stated that the imbibition of alcoholic beverages on the premises was prohibited.

"Various chemical and mechanical treatments are used to overcome hard or impervious seed coats so that the imbibition of water and exchange of gases necessary for germination can occur." -- From an article by Marzieh Babashpour Asl et al. in Modern Applied Science, February 2011

Did You Know?

Joseph Thomas James Hewlett was a 19th-century English curate and schoolmaster who moonlighted as a novelist. In Parsons and Widows, in which the author disguises himself as "the Curate of Mosbury," Hewlett provided us with the first known use of "imbibition" to refer to a person’s drinking, in the phrase "imbibition of a little strong beer." Until then, "imbibition" had been used scientifically to refer to various processes of soaking and absorption (as it is still used today), or figuratively, to the taking in of knowledge. "Imbibition" traces back to Latin "imbibere," a verb whose meaning "to drink in" includes absorption of liquids, consuming drink, and appropriating ideas.