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osmosis
noun
Examples of osmosis in a Sentence
Word History
earlier osmose in same sense + -osis, after endosmosis, exosmosis; osmose generalized from endosmose "passage through a membrane from a region of lower to a region of higher concentration" and exosmose "passage through a membrane from a region of higher to a region of lower concentration" (later endosmosis, exosmosis), both borrowed from French, from end- end-, ex- ex- entry 2 + -osmose, from Greek ōsmós "push, thrust" (from ōthéō, ōtheîn "to push, thrust" + -(s)mos, resultative noun suffix) + French -ose -osis; ōthéō, ōtheîn probably going back to Indo-European *h2u̯odhh1-, iterative derivative of *h2u̯edhh1- "thrust," whence also Sanskrit ávadhīt "(s/he) has struck, has slain"
Note: The terms endosmose and exosmose were introduced by the French physician and physiologist Henri Dutrochet (1776-1847) in L'agent immédiat du mouvement vital dévoilé dans sa nature et dans son mode d'action, chez les végétaux et chez les animaux (Paris, 1826), p. 126: "Ainsi, lorsque c'est le plus dense des deux fluides qui est dans la cavité, l'eau y est introduite par l'action que j'ai nommée endosmose; lorsqu'au contraire c'est le plus dense des deux fluides qui est hors de la cavité, le fluide le moins dense, qui est au dedans, est poussé au dehors par une action inverse que je nommerai exosmose.[footnote] (1) Mot dérivé de ἐξ, dehors, et de ωσμος, impulsion." ("Thus when the denser of the two fluids is inside the cavity, the water is drawn in by the action that I term endosmose; when on the contrary the denser of the two fluids is outside the cavity, the less dense fluid, which is inside, is pushed outward by an inverse action that I term exosmose. (1) Word derived from ex, outside, and from ōsmos, impetus.") The reconstruction *h2u̯odhh1- is from R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill, 2010), with Greek -ōth- presumed to be a contraction from *awoth-. Beekes rejects the suggestion by Chantraine (Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque) that ōtheîn is the durative form of a verb *éthein allegedly seen in éthōn, a present participle of obscure meaning that occurs twice in the Iliad (and hence parallel, according to Chantraine, with the lengthened grade seen in pōléomai "go/come frequently" as against pélomai "become, take place").
1863, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing osmosis
Dictionary Entries Near osmosis
Cite this Entry
“Osmosis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/osmosis. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.
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osmosis
nounMedical Definition
osmosis
nounMore from Merriam-Webster on osmosis
Nglish: Translation of osmosis for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about osmosis
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