solute
Americannoun
-
solutes
plural
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of solute
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin solūtus, past participle of solvere to loosen, dissolve. See solve
Explanation
Solute is just a few letters short of solution, a substance that is dissolved in liquid. In science classes, a solute might be part of your experiment. Pronounced "SAHL-yoot," the noun solute has close word relatives in dissolve, soluble, and solid — all of which are rooted in the Latin word solvere, meaning "to loosen." A solute changes state when it is dissolved. In sugar water, the solute is the sugar because it changes from solid to liquid. The water is not a solute.
Vocabulary lists containing solute
Chemistry - Introductory
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Chemistry - High School
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The ACT Science Test: Chemistry Review 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Upon solidification, a phase separation into a pure solvent, here ice, and a solute and particles occurs, with the ice templating the solute/particle phase.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2024
The dissolved solute in a solution will not settle out or separate from the solvent.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
In some cases, solutions do not form because the energy required to separate solute and solvent species is so much greater than the energy released by solvation.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
A solute is a component of a solution that is typically present at a much lower concentration than the solvent.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
We attach the tube to the walls of the porous vessel, allow the solvent to increase in volume under the pressure of the solute, and measure the rise of the liquid in the manometer tube.
From The Mechanism of Life by Stéphane Leduc
A wide variety of solvents, solutes and particles can be used to create the desired structures, shapes and functionalities.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2024
Combined, these two effects -- convection and thermophoresis -- drive accumulation and selective up-concentration of the various solutes in different places.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 4, 2024
Water and solutes, such as glycerol, urea, and boric acid, get transported through human Aqp10 depending on concentration gradients across the membrane.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 21, 2023
However, for plants to evolve larger forms, the evolution of vascular tissue for the distribution of water and solutes was a prerequisite.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
When these are brought into contact there is no transference of water from one solution to the other, but there is a transference of the solutes.
From The Mechanism of Life by Stéphane Leduc
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
