Meaning

verb take in, also metaphorically

verb take (gas, light or heat) into a solution

verb take in liquids

originFrom Middle English imbiben, from Latin imbibō, from im- + bibō (“to drink”) (whence also beverage), from Proto-Italic *pibō, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃-, whence also potable, potion.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0