absorbance

or ab·sorb·an·cy

[ ab-sawr-buh ns or ab-sawr-buh n-see; -zawr- ]

/ æbˈsɔr bəns or æbˈsɔr bən si; -ˈzɔr- /

noun Physics.

the capacity of a substance to absorb radiation, expressed as the common logarithm of the reciprocal of the transmittance of the substance.

Nearby words

absolve, absonant, absorb, absorbable gelatin film, absorbable suture, absorbance, absorbed, absorbed dose, absorbefacient, absorbent, absorbent cotton

Origin of absorbance

First recorded in 1945–50; absorb(ent) + -ance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for absorbance

absorbance

/ (əbˈsɔːbəns, -ˈzɔː-) /

noun

physics a measure of the light-absorbing ability of an object, expressed as the logarithm to base 10 of the reciprocal of the internal transmittanceSee transmittance

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for absorbance

absorbance

[ əb-zôr′bəns ]

n.

In spectrophotometry, equal to 2 minus the log of the percentage transmittance of light.extinction optical density