osmosisn.
/ɒzˈməʊsɪs/, U.S. /ɑzˈmoʊsəs/ 1. Chemistry and Biology. The process by which molecules of water or another solvent tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane into a region of greater solute concentration, so as to make the concentrations on the two sides of the membrane more nearly equal. Cf. earlier osmose n.reverse osmosis: see reverse adj. and adv. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > movement > [noun] > diffusion through porous membrane
water transport1780
endosmose1829
endosmosis1836
osmosis1863
the world > matter > chemistry > physical chemistry > solvents and solutes > [noun] > osmosis
osmose1854
osmosis1863
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > fluid mechanics > [noun] > osmosis
osmose1854
osmosis1863
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [noun] > through any medium or space > passing through a porous medium > osmosis
exosmose1828
endosmosis1836
exosmosis1836
osmose1854
osmosis1863
1863 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 153 165 The gum was introduced to take the place of the albumen, and the sugar, the salines, so as to have a fluid that would behave about like blood as regards osmosis.
1867 J. Hogg Microscope (ed. 6) i. iii. 226 The great desideratum of a transparent injecting fluid is, that it shall not, by the action of osmosis, dye the tissue meant to be injected.
1924 Science 1 Aug. 100/2 It is customary in an elementary course in biology to set up a demonstration of osmosis.
1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. x. 260 The passage of water from the soil into the root and from cell to cell in the tissues is effected entirely by diffusion and largely by osmosis.
1987 M. H. Freemantle Chem. in Action (BNC) 233 When red blood cells are put into water, they swell and burst due to osmosis.
1998 Canal Boat & Inland Waterways June 89/2 Check the underwater hull for damage and osmosis. This is blistering under the gelcoat.
2. figurative and in figurative contexts. A process resembling osmosis, esp. the gradual and often unconscious assimilation or transfer of ideas, knowledge, influences, etc. Frequently by osmosis.
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society > education > learning > [noun] > assimilating ideas
imbibition1603
digestiona1610
intussusception1860
osmosis1930
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > incorporation or inclusion > assimilation or absorption > [noun]
suppinga1400
accretion1633
absorption1659
absorbitiona1682
intussusception1707
assimilating1781
assimilation1790
swallowing1816
submergence1826
introsusceptiona1834
merging1836
mergence1865
osmosis1930
recuperation1967
1900 Nation (N.Y.) 18 Oct. 303/3 The subtile interchange—a sort of moral osmosis—which goes on between the higher conquering race and the lower conquered race.
1930 E. Pound Draft of XXX Cantos xxix. 137 Languor has cried unto languor about the marshmallow-roast (Let us speak of the osmosis of persons).
1970 Author 81 113 It is not a question how much you teach them but how much they learn, perhaps largely by osmosis.
1977 P. D. James Death of Expert Witness iii. 128 News percolated through a village community by a process of verbal osmosis.
2000 Z. Smith White Teeth (2001) xv. 400 Irie put an X on everything she found, collecting bits and bobs (birth certificates, maps, army reports, news articles) and storing them under the sofa, so that as if by osmosis the richness of them would pass through the fabric while she was sleeping and seep right into her.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1863