-phoresiscomb. form

Primary stress is attracted to the second syllable of this combining form and vowels may be reduced accordingly; see e.g.
electrophoresis n.Origin: A borrowing from Greek. Etymon: Greek ϕόρησις.
Etymology: < Hellenistic Greek ϕόρησις being carried < ancient Greek ϕορεῖν to bear constantly ( < an ablaut variant of the base of ϕέρειν to bear: see bear v.1) + -σις -sis suffix. Compare Hellenistic Greek διαϕόρησις diaphoresis n. Compare German -phorese (formations in which are found from at least the early 20th cent.; compare e.g. photophoresis n.1).Formations are found from the end of the 19th cent. with first elements of Greek origin, e.g. cataphoresis n.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2020).