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Glite Dictionary
💧 Holding liquid 🧠 Remembering well 📦 Keeping things
retentivity

retentivity

8.9
The ability of a material to hold water or other liquids
  • noun
  • Specialized
: retentividad
  • In construction, materials with good retentivity can help maintain moisture levels in soil for plant growth.

Examples

  • The retentivity of activated carbon for H2S can be increased substantially by impregnating the carbon with either KOH or NaOH.

    Academic text (1996)

  • For removing H2S from gas streams, activated carbon is the preferred adsorbent due to its high retentivity for H2S.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Activated carbon's high retentivity allows it to effectively absorb pollutants from the air.

  • The engineer explained how the retentivity of certain materials contributes to their ability to store rainwater.

Synonyms

retention
vsretentivity
  • Specialized
6 4.8

Ability of a material like cloth or soil to hold liquid

is identical in meaning but uses a different technical term
absorbency
vsretentivity
2 4.8

The amount of liquid a material soaks up

emphasizes keeping liquid inside rather than the initial soaking action
retentiveness
vsretentivity
1 7.9

How well soil holds water

focuses specifically on holding liquid rather than other items

How Retentive

impermeability
  • Specialized
1 8.3
retentivity
  • Specialized
8.9
absorbency
2 4.8
porosity
  • Specialized
1 7.7
leakiness
1 5.1

Surface Forms

retentivity singular
retentivities plural

Morphology

retentivity = retentive (transparent) = retain + ivity

The noun 'retentivity' is transparently formed from the adjective 'retentive' using the suffix '-ity' to denote a state or quality.

Etymology

Retentivity comes from the Latin parts re- 'back' and tenere 'to hold', the same root you see in retain. So for materials, it means the power to 'hold' liquid inside, like soil or cloth.