Main Entry: os·mo·sis

Pronunciation: \äz-ˈmō-səs, äs-\

Function: noun

Etymology: New Latin, short for endosmosis

Date: 1867

1 : movement of a solvent (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 suggestive of the flow of osmotic action; especially : a usually effortless often unconscious assimilation <learned a number of languages by osmosis — Roger Kimball>