Plasmolyzes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Causes a plant cell to shrink as water leaves it by osmosis and the cell membrane pulls away from the rigid wall
2. Makes a cell contract when surrounding solution draws water out, so the protoplast separates from the cell wall
3. Withdraws water from a plant cell through osmosis until its contents detach from the surrounding cell wall

Etymology: "Plasmolyzes" is the third-person singular form of "plasmolyze," so it describes a cell that loses water and pulls its protoplasm away from the cell wall. The verb is built from "plasma," used in biology for the living contents of a cell, and the Greek-derived suffix "-lyze," meaning to loosen or break apart. Together the parts describe the literal process: the protoplasm is loosened from its wall as water leaves. The sense of the verb is the key to its construction. Plant cells are enclosed by rigid walls, so when they are placed in a strong salt or sugar solution, water moves outward and the protoplasm shrinks away from the wall, a condition the biologist can observe directly under a microscope. The verb therefore names a visible event rather than an abstract change, and the -lyze ending links it to a family of scientific words such as "analyze" and "electrolyze" that share the same idea of separation.

Synonyms: plasmolyses, shrinks, contracts