Osmoles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A unit of measurement representing the number of osmotic particles in a solution, indicating its concentration in terms of osmotic activity
2. A metric that quantifies the total number of solute particles that contribute to osmotic pressure, relevant in chemistry and biology
3. A term used to describe the amount of solute in a solvent that affects the movement of water across membranes through osmosis

Etymology: "Osmoles" is the plural of "osmole", a unit of concentration used in chemistry and medicine to count the particles dissolved in a solution. The singular form, "osmole", is built on "osmosis", the movement of water across a membrane, combined with the "-ole" ending borrowed from "mole", the chemists' unit for a quantity of substance. The name thus joins a term for how dissolved particles pull water through a barrier with the unit that measures how many of them there are.