immersion

American  

[ih-mur-zhuhn, -shuhn] / ɪˈmɜr ʒən, -ʃən /

noun

• immersions
  plural

1. an act or instance of immersing.

2. state of being immersed.

3. state of being deeply engaged or involved; absorption.

4. baptism in which the whole body of the person is submerged in the water.

5. Also called ingress.  Astronomy. the entrance of a heavenly body into an eclipse by another body, an occultation, or a transit.

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adjective

1. concentrating on one course of instruction, subject, or project to the exclusion of all others for several days or weeks; intensive.

   an immersion course in conversational French.

immersion British  

/ ɪˈmɜːʃən /

noun

1. a form of baptism in which part or the whole of a person's body is submerged in the water

2. Also: ingress.  astronomy the disappearance of a celestial body prior to an eclipse or occultation

3. the act of immersing or state of being immersed

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonimmersion
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• immersions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of immersion

1425–75; late Middle English < Late Latin immersiōn- (stem of immersiō ) a dipping in. See immerse, -ion

Explanation

Immersion is the act of dipping something in a substance, completely covering it. It might be something physical, such as plunging your body into water, or metaphorical, such as becoming totally immersed in a project. The Latin background of immersion includes the root mergere, "to plunge." The idea of immersion as a physical submergence came first and the idea of something being absorbed in a situation came about later. The idea behind immersion is that of complete coverage, whether that be by water, as in Baptism, or by attention, as in "immersion learning," an idea for learning a language trademarked in 1965 by the Berlitz company.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

immersion immersions

Imax and Imax 70mm are built around scale and immersion, with the latter using rare 70mm film projection that has become a major draw for movie enthusiasts.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

A heat pack or immersion in hot water can reduce pain and swelling, and painkillers such as paracetamol can also help.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Following immersion in 57-degree water, subjects in one study experienced a 530% increase in plasma noradrenaline, a neurotransmitter associated with euphoria and mental clarity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

This study relies on ethnographic research: sustained immersion in people’s homes, lives, and communities through extensive interviews, observations, participation, and relationship-building.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

But after two years of total immersion in art history, I found my experience of looking at paintings and sculpture totally transformed.

From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell

Repeated cold-water immersions during winter months have been shown to improve how the body responds to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar levels, Mercer noted.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 10, 2023

Yet my previous audio immersions in Joyce assured me that the text my eyes boggled at, my ears could relish.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 5, 2021

On the first evening of a two-night run at the Jazz Gallery, they played a series of long immersions, guided by Mr. McPherson’s steadily locomotive drumming and the oozing agility of Mr. Crump’s bass.

From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2017

But now the creator of such deliberately paced immersions in bleak naturalism as “Humanité” and “Twentynine Palms” continues his walk on the wacky side with the bizarro period piece “Slack Bay.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2017

And how we had worried her with our continual upjerkings and immersions, how we had kept him digging one forbidden nursery after another, how arrogantly we had set ourselves against the unpersuadable urge of instinct!

From Sigurd Our Golden Collie and Other Comrades of the Road by Katharine Lee Bates