osmosis

noun

os·mo·sis äz-ˈmō-səs How to pronounce osmosis (audio)

äs-

: movement of a solvent (such as water) through a semipermeable membrane (as of a living cell) into a solution of higher solute concentration that tends to equalize the concentrations of solute on the two sides of the membrane

: a process of absorption or diffusion (see diffusion sense 3a) suggestive of the flow of osmotic action

especially : a usually effortless often unconscious assimilation (see assimilation sense 4)

learned a number of languages by osmosis

Roger Kimball

Example Sentences

She seems to learn foreign languages by osmosis.

Recent Examples on the Web Her school aims to help others who don’t grow up learning etiquette by osmosis avoid missteps.

Callum Borchers, WSJ, 8 Sep. 2022 Fish consume water through a process known as osmosis.

Evan Hecht, USA TODAY, 26 July 2022 Hite said the reverse-osmosis plant, which is diesel-powered, also uses the high-pressure reject water to help turn its pump, enabling it to use a smaller motor and reduce electrical consumption.

Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2022 In Decatur, the West Morgan East Lawrence Water and Sewer Authority (WMEL), opened a $32 million treatment plant last year that uses a reverse-osmosis filter to cleanse the water.

al, 7 July 2022 There’s an element of osmosis at play, coaches say, a knack for absorbing the game from having high-level players at home.

Brett Dawson, The Courier-Journal, 12 Aug. 2022 Syn says that the best water osmosis filters remove most chemical contaminants and this one from Apec Water System reigns supreme.

Kayla Hui, Health.com, 6 Jan. 2022 Reverse osmosis then removes more than 99% of all impurities such as bacteria, pharmaceuticals and salts.

Los Angeles Times, 17 July 2022 Since Subramaniam was named president three years ago, the succession process has been more one of osmosis than didactic dinner meetings.

Jena Mcgregor, Forbes, 2 May 2022 See More

Word History

Etymology

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").

First Known Use

1863, in the meaning defined at sense 1

单词	osmosis
释义	osmosis noun os·mo·sis äz-ˈmō-səs äs- 1 : movement of a solvent (such as water) through a semipermeable membrane (as of a living cell) into a solution of higher solute concentration that tends to equalize the concentrations of solute on the two sides of the membrane 2 : a process of absorption or diffusion (see diffusion sense 3a) suggestive of the flow of osmotic action especially : a usually effortless often unconscious assimilation (see assimilation sense 4) learned a number of languages by osmosis Roger Kimball Example Sentences She seems to learn foreign languages by osmosis. Recent Examples on the Web Her school aims to help others who don’t grow up learning etiquette by osmosis avoid missteps. Callum Borchers, WSJ, 8 Sep. 2022 Fish consume water through a process known as osmosis. Evan Hecht, USA TODAY, 26 July 2022 Hite said the reverse-osmosis plant, which is diesel-powered, also uses the high-pressure reject water to help turn its pump, enabling it to use a smaller motor and reduce electrical consumption. Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2022 In Decatur, the West Morgan East Lawrence Water and Sewer Authority (WMEL), opened a $32 million treatment plant last year that uses a reverse-osmosis filter to cleanse the water. al, 7 July 2022 There’s an element of osmosis at play, coaches say, a knack for absorbing the game from having high-level players at home. Brett Dawson, The Courier-Journal, 12 Aug. 2022 Syn says that the best water osmosis filters remove most chemical contaminants and this one from Apec Water System reigns supreme. Kayla Hui, Health.com, 6 Jan. 2022 Reverse osmosis then removes more than 99% of all impurities such as bacteria, pharmaceuticals and salts. Los Angeles Times, 17 July 2022 Since Subramaniam was named president three years ago, the succession process has been more one of osmosis than didactic dinner meetings. Jena Mcgregor, Forbes, 2 May 2022 See More Word History Etymology 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"). First Known Use 1863, in the meaning defined at sense 1 Phrases Containing osmosis reverse osmosis reverse osmosis Kids Definition osmosis noun os·mo·sis äs-ˈmō-səs äz- : a passing of material and especially water through a membrane (as of a living cell) that will not allow all kinds of molecules to pass Medical Definition osmosis noun os·mo·sis äz-ˈmō-səs äs- plural osmoses -ˌsēz : movement of a solvent through a semipermeable membrane (as of a living cell) into a solution of higher solute concentration that tends to equalize the concentrations of solute on the two sides of the membrane
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osmosis

noun

Example Sentences

Word History

Phrases Containing osmosis

Kids Definition

noun

Medical Definition

noun