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 membrane2: 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>