osmosis
The net movement of solvent molecules, usually water, from a region of lower solute concentration to a region of higher solute concentration through a partially permeable membrane.
Other meanings
Passive absorption or impartation of information, habits, etc.; the process of teaching or learning particular knowledge incidentally rather than consciously.
“I was reading about chickens, and I guess I learned about hawks through osmosis.”
Related words
- assmosis
- chemiosmosis
- chemosmosis
- diosmosis
- hyperosmosis
- thermoosmosis
- zoosmosis
- electroosmosis
- endosmosis
- exosmosis
- pressure-retarded osmosis
- reverse osmosis
Word history
From Ancient Greek "ὠσμός" (push, impulsion).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “osmosis” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.