Plasmolyse

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make a plant cell shrink by drawing water out of it so the cytoplasm pulls away from the cell wall ; to let such shrinkage happen as the cell loses water to a concentrated solution
2. Causing a cell to contract as water leaves through osmosis into a surrounding salty or sugary liquid ; undergoing the process in which the protoplast detaches from the wall
3. Drawing water out of cells so their contents withdraw from the rigid outer wall ; experiencing the shrinking of protoplasm away from the cell boundary in a hypertonic environment

Etymology: "Plasmolyse" is a verb built from two Greek roots. "Plasma" comes from "plassein," to mould or shape, and "lysis" means loosening or breaking apart, as in English "analysis." Together they describe what happens when a plant cell is placed in a concentrated salt or sugar solution: the living contents shrink away from the cell wall. The word is a scientific coinage from classical parts rather than an ancient term, and it names a process rather than an object. The British spelling "plasmolyse" sits beside the American "plasmolyze." The reverse process, when the cell is returned to pure water and its contents swell back against the wall, is called deplasmolysis.