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OSMOSIS


NOUN

os· mo· sis äz-ˈmō-səs How to pronounce osmosis (audio)
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 People, yes, but perhaps another generation of folks
with this hero in common, learning through the osmosis of good television how to
live their lives in homage to him. — Wesley Morris, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2023
Soon the recycled air in the house begins to shift, an osmosis from cool to warm
to unbearably hot. — Hurmat Kazmi, The Atlantic, 23 Nov. 2021 His love of Latin
music came by osmosis. — Dallas News, 2 Feb. 2023
Not all fish drink water solely through osmosis. — Evan Hecht, USA TODAY, 26
July 2022 My mother taught me to cook almost by osmosis. — Washington Post, 28
Apr. 2021 Through osmosis, the flavorful brine is absorbed into the meat,
thereby seasoning it through and through. — Sherry Rujikarn And Catherine Lo,
Good Housekeeping, 30 Sep. 2020 Over time, either by design or policymaking
osmosis, the U.K., Eurozone, Japan and other major economies passed the keys and
steering wheels to unelected monetary officials. — William Pesek, Forbes, 10
Feb. 2023 The other thing is that soccer’s brain center is in Europe and there’s
just less osmosis with ideas than there were in American sports. — Alex
Shephard, The New Republic, 3 Jan. 2023
See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to
illustrate current usage of the word 'osmosis.' Any opinions expressed in the
examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us
feedback about these examples.




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

Time Traveler
The first known use of osmosis was in 1863
See more words from the same year


PHRASES CONTAINING OSMOSIS

 * reverse osmosis

 * reverse osmosis


DICTIONARY ENTRIES NEAR OSMOSIS

osmose

osmosis

osmotactic

See More Nearby Entries 


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KIDS DEFINITION

osmosis

noun
os· mo· sis äz-ˈmō-səs How to pronounce osmosis (audio)
äs-
1
: the passage of material (as a solvent) through a membrane (as of a plant or
animal cell) that will not allow all kinds of molecules to pass

2
: a taking in (as of knowledge) as if by the process of osmosis

osmotic
-ˈmät-ik
adjective



MEDICAL DEFINITION

osmosis

noun
os· mo· sis äz-ˈmō-səs How to pronounce osmosis (audio) äs- How to pronounce
osmosis (audio)
plural osmoses -ˌsēz How to pronounce osmosis (audio)
: 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


MORE FROM MERRIAM-WEBSTER ON OSMOSIS

Nglish: Translation of osmosis for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about osmosis

Last Updated: 20 May 2023 - Updated example sentences
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