electrolysis

English

Etymology

Coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1834 for Michael Faraday. From electro- +‎ -lysis (“a loosening”). Originally of tumors, later (1909) of hair removal.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ɪlɛkˈtɹɒləsɪs/
Rhymes: -ɒlɪsɪs

Noun

electrolysis (countable and uncountable, plural electrolyses)

(chemistry) the chemical change produced by passing an electric current through a conducting solution or a molten salt.
- 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 136:
  But current leakage in a Tube tunnel can cause electrolysis to occur in steel retaining walls, which in turn causes them to rust; it could also damage the foundations of nearby buildings.
The destruction of hair roots by means of an electric current.

Related terms

electrolytic
electrolyze

Translations

chemical change

Armenian: էլեկտրոլիզ (hy) (ēlektroliz)
Basque: elektrolisi
Bengali: তড়িৎ বিশ্লেষণ (tôṛit biśleṣôṇô)
Catalan: electròlisi f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 電解／电解 (zh) (diànjiě)
Czech: elektrolýza f
Danish: elektrolyse c
Esperanto: elektrolizo
Finnish: elektrolyysi (fi)
French: électrolyse (fr) f
German: Elektrolyse (de) f
Greek: ηλεκτρόλυση (el) f (ilektrólysi)
Gujarati: વિદ્યુતવિભાજન (vidyutvibhājan)
Hindi: विद्युत अपघटन (vidyut apaghṭan)
Icelandic: rafgreining f
Ido: elektrolizo (io)
Italian: elettrolisi (it) f
Japanese: 電気分解 (でんきぶんかい, tenkibunkai)
Kannada: ವಿದ್ಯುದ್ವಿಭಜನೆ (vidyudvibhajane)
Kazakh: электролиз (kk) (elektroliz), электрыдырау (elektrydyrau)
Malay: elektrolisis (ms)
Malayalam: വൈദ്യുതവിശ്ലേഷണം (ml) (vaidyutaviślēṣaṇaṃ)
Manx: scarrey lectragh m
Maori: tauhohe pāhiko
Norwegian:
Bokmål: elektrolyse m
Nynorsk: elektrolyse m
Polish: elektroliza (pl) f
Portuguese: electrólise (pt) f (Portugal), eletrólise (pt) f (Brazil)
Punjabi: ਬਿਜਲੀ-ਨਿਖੇੜ (bijlī-nikheṛ)
Romanian: electroliză (ro) f
Russian: э̀лектроли́з (ru) m (èlektrolíz)
Shona: rugetsenuro
Spanish: electrólisis f
Swedish: elektrolys (sv) c
Tamil: மின்னாற்பகுப்பு (miṉṉāṟpakuppu)
Telugu: విద్యుద్విశ్లేషణ (vidyudviślēṣaṇa)

destruction of hair roots by electric current

French: électrolyse (fr) f
Greek: ηλεκτρόλυση (el) f (ilektrólysi)
Manx: scarrey lectragh m