solute
Americannoun
noun
adjective
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.
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 total concentration of solute particles in a solution also determines its osmotic pressure.
From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019
Consequently, reaction quotients include concentration or pressure terms only for gaseous and solute species.
From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019
If the volume of the water is the same, but the concentrations of solute are different, then there are also different concentrations of water, the solvent, on either side of the membrane.
From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013
An osmotic membrane is not a semi-permeable membrane, as sometimes described, i.e. a membrane permeable to water but impermeable to the solute.
From The Mechanism of Life by Leduc, Stéphane
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.
