IMMERSION

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does immersion mean? 

• IMMERSION (noun)
  The noun IMMERSION has 5 senses:

1. sinking until covered completely with water

2. (astronomy) the disappearance of a celestial body prior to an eclipse

3. complete attention; intense mental effort

4. a form of baptism in which part or all of a person's body is submerged

5. the act of wetting something by submerging it

  Familiarity information: IMMERSION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMMERSION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sinking until covered completely with water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

immersion; submergence; submerging; submersion

Hypernyms ("immersion" is a kind of...):

sinking (a descent as through liquid (especially through water))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "immersion"):

dip (a brief immersion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(astronomy) the disappearance of a celestial body prior to an eclipse

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

immersion; ingress

Hypernyms ("immersion" is a kind of...):

disappearance (the event of passing out of sight)

Domain category:

astronomy; uranology (the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole)

Holonyms ("immersion" is a part of...):

eclipse; occultation (one celestial body obscures another)

Antonym:

emersion ((astronomy) the reappearance of a celestial body after an eclipse)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Complete attention; intense mental effort

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

absorption; concentration; engrossment; immersion

Hypernyms ("immersion" is a kind of...):

attention (the faculty or power of mental concentration)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "immersion"):

centering; direction; focal point; focus; focusing; focussing (the concentration of attention or energy on something)

specialism (the concentration of your efforts on a particular field of study or occupation)

study (a state of deep mental absorption)

Derivation:

immerse (devote (oneself) fully to)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A form of baptism in which part or all of a person's body is submerged

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("immersion" is a kind of...):

baptism (a Christian sacrament signifying spiritual cleansing and rebirth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "immersion"):

trine immersion (baptism by immersion three times (in the names in turn of the Trinity))

Sense 5

Meaning:

The act of wetting something by submerging it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

dousing; ducking; immersion; submersion

Hypernyms ("immersion" is a kind of...):

wetting (the act of making something wet)

Derivation:

immerse (cause to be immersed)

 Context examples 

I was still weak from my prolonged immersion.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)