Uresis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The physiological process by which the body eliminates urine from the bladder through the urethra
2. The act of passing urine from the body as a means of removing waste products
3. The discharge of urine from the urinary bladder to the outside of the body

Etymology: "Uresis" comes from Ancient Greek "oúrēsis," the act of urinating, formed from "oureîn," to urinate, which is itself built on "oûron," urine. English borrowed the term as a technical word for the act of passing urine, the sort of plain clinical vocabulary that medical writers reached for when they needed a precise name for a bodily process. Its use is confined almost entirely to physiology and medicine, where it sits alongside related terms such as "diuresis." The word is best understood through its parts: the Greek stem for urine, plus the noun-forming ending that turns an action into a thing. Anyone who has met "diuresis" will recognise the pattern, since the same Greek root is at work in both, with "di-" adding the sense of passing through.