lysis
nounUK /ˈlaɪsɪs/
Etymology From Latin lysis, from Ancient Greek λύσις (lúsis, “a loosening”). Compare -lysis.
1
Architecture A plinth or step above the cornice of the podium in an ancient temple.
2
Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Microbiology, Natural sciences, Physical sciences The breakdown of molecules into constituent molecules.
3
Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Microbiology, Natural sciences, Physical sciences The disintegration or destruction of cells.
- The older medicine used to speak of two ways, lysis and crisis, one gradual, the other abrupt, in which one might recover from a bodily disease.1902, William James, “Lecture VIII: The Divided Self, and the Process of Its Unification”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 183:
- Derived terms
- antilysis, carcinolysis, dermatolysis, euglobulin clot lysis time, euglobulin lysis time, immunolysis, isolysis, lysine, Lysol, lyterian, nitrolysis, phosphorolysis, xylanolysis