immerse

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin immersus, from immergō, from in + mergō.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪˈmɜːs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪˈmɝs/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s

Verb

immerse (third-person singular simple present immerses, present participle immersing, simple past and past participle immersed)

1. (transitive) To place within a fluid (generally a liquid, but also a gas).

   Archimedes determined the volume of objects by immersing them in water.

   • 1883, The Electrical Journal, page 501:

     ... the two plates of platinum immersed in oxygen and hydrogen gases

   • 1841, William Rhind, A history of the vegetable kingdom, page 110:

     Even after the process of germination has taken place, if the young plant be immersed in an atmosphere of either of those gases [hydrogen and nitrogen], vegetation and life will immediately cease.

   • 1955, George Shortley, Dudley Williams, Elements of Physics for Students of Science and Engineering:

     The buoyant force of the atmospheric air on solids and liquids immersed in it is for most purposes negligible compared to the weight of solid or liquid, ...

2. (transitive) To involve or engage deeply.

   The sculptor immersed himself in anatomic studies.

3. (transitive, mathematics) To map into an immersion.
   • 2002, Kari Jormakka, Flying Dutchmen: Motion in Architecture, page 40:

     Thus, in mathematical terms a Klein bottle cannot be "embedded" but only "immersed" in three dimensions as an embedding has no self-intersections but an immersion may have them.

Synonyms

• submerge

Derived terms

• immersion
• immersive

Translations

to put under the surface of a liquid

Bulgarian: потапям (bg) (potapjam) Dutch: onderdompelen (nl) Esperanto: mergi Finnish: upottaa (fi) French: immerger (fr) German: eintauchen (de) Gothic: 𐌳𐌰𐌿𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (daupjan) Hindi: डुबाना (hi) (ḍubānā) Indonesian: menenggelamkan (id) Irish: tum Italian: immergere (it) Latin: mergō (la) Malayalam: മുക്കുക (ml) (mukkuka) Maori: rumaki, whakaruku, kōuru Polish: zanurzać (pl) impf, zanurzyć (pl) pf Portuguese: imergir (pt), submergir (pt) Quechua: chinkaykuy Romanian: scufunda (ro), scufunda (ro) Russian: погружа́ть (ru) impf (pogružátʹ), погрузи́ть (ru) pf (pogruzítʹ), окуна́ть (ru) impf (okunátʹ), окуну́ть (ru) pf (okunútʹ) Sardinian: Logudorese: imbèrghere Spanish: sumergir (es) Telugu: ముంచు (te) (muñcu) Urdu: ڈُبانا (ḍubānā) Vietnamese: nhúng (vi)

to involve deeply

Bulgarian: въвличам (bg) (vǎvličam), забърквам (bg) (zabǎrkvam) Dutch: opgaan (nl) Finnish: uppoutua (fi), syventyä (fi) French: immerger (fr) German: vertiefen (de) Italian: immergersi (it) Malayalam: മുഴുകുക (ml) (muḻukuka) Romanian: se implica Russian: погружа́ться (ru) impf (pogružátʹsja), погрузи́ться (ru) pf (pogruzítʹsja), уйти́ с голово́й pf (ujtí s golovój) Spanish: sumergirse (es)

Adjective

immerse (comparative more immerse, superlative most immerse)

1. (obsolete) Immersed; buried; sunk.
   • 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

     After a long enquiry of things immerse in matter, I interpose some object which is immateriate, or less materiate; such as this of sounds.

Italian

Adjective

immerse f pl

1. feminine plural of immerso

Verb

immerse

1. inflection of immergere:
   1. third-person singular past historic
   2. feminine plural past participle

Latin

Participle

immerse

1. vocative masculine singular of immersus