xī shōu
absorb; soak up; assimilate
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排泄 (páixiè)
excretion
释放 (shìfàng)
release
The Chinese word 吸收 (xīshōu) is composed of two characters: 吸 (xī) and 收 (shōu). The character 吸 originally meant "to suck" or "to inhale", and it is still used in this sense today. The character 收 originally meant "to gather" or "to collect", and it is still used in this sense today as well. When these two characters are combined, they form the word 吸收, which means "to absorb" or "to take in". This word can be used in a variety of contexts, such as to describe the process of plants absorbing water from the soil, or to describe the process of the body absorbing nutrients from food.
