hydrolysis

H4Y4D2R1O1L1Y4S1I1S1
UK/haɪˈdɹɒlɪsɪs/US/haɪˈdɹɑləsəs/

noun

A chemical process of decomposition involving the splitting of a bond and the addition of the hydrogen cation and the hydroxide anion of water.

OriginAncient Greek λῠ́σῐς (lŭ́sĭs) ← Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- ← English hydro- →
Less commonScrabble 20
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounhydrolysis (countable and uncountable, plural hydrolyses)

plural hydrolyses

  1. countableuncountablechemistryA chemical process of decomposition involving the splitting of a bond and the addition of the hydrogen cation and the hydroxide anion of water.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*wed-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wódr̥
  3. Proto-Hellenic*údōr
  4. Ancient Greekῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr)
  5. Ancient Greekῠ̔δρο- (hŭdro-)
  6. Englishhydro-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
  8. Ancient Greekλύω (lúō)
  9. Ancient Greekλῠ́σῐς (lŭ́sĭs)
  10. Englishhydrolysis

From hydro- + -lysis.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan hidròlisi
  • hidròlisichemical process of decomposition
Chinese Cantonese 水解
  • 水解 (seoi² gaai²)chemical process of decomposition
Chinese Mandarin 水解
  • 水解 (shuǐjiě)chemical process of decomposition
Czech hydrolýza
  • hydrolýzachemical process of decomposition
Danish hydrolyse
  • hydrolysechemical process of decomposition
Finnish hydrolyysi
  • hydrolyysichemical process of decomposition
French hydrolyse
  • hydrolysechemical process of decomposition
German Hydrolyse
  • Hydrolysechemical process of decomposition
Greek υδρόλυση
  • υδρόλυση (ydrólysi)chemical process of decomposition
Hindi जलापघटन
  • जलापघटन (jalāpghaṭan)chemical process of decomposition
Hungarian hidrolízis, vízbontás
  • hidrolízischemical process of decomposition
  • vízbontáschemical process of decomposition
Icelandic vatnsrof
  • vatnsrofchemical process of decomposition
Indonesian hidrolisis
  • hidrolisischemical process of decomposition
Italian idrolisi
  • idrolisichemical process of decomposition
Japanese 加水分解
  • 加水分解 (kasuibunkai)chemical process of decomposition
Korean 가수분해
  • 가수분해 (gasubunhae)chemical process of decomposition
Malay hidrolisis
  • hidrolisischemical process of decomposition
Māori whakapāheko-ā-wa
  • whakapāheko-ā-wachemical process of decomposition
Polish hydroliza
  • hydrolizachemical process of decomposition
Portuguese hidrólise
  • hidrólisechemical process of decomposition
Russian гидролиз
  • гидролиз (gidroliz)chemical process of decomposition
Spanish hidrólisis
  • hidrólisischemical process of decomposition
Swedish hydrolys
  • hydrolyschemical process of decomposition
Tagalog tubigbilos
  • tubigbiloschemical process of decomposition
Vietnamese sự thuỷ phân
  • sự thuỷ phânchemical process of decomposition

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with hydrolysis

electrolysisproteolysispyrolysisglycolysishemolysisrhabdomyolysisautolysisosteolysiscytolysisglycogenolysisacantholysisacetolysisachromatolysisacidolysisadipolysisalcoholysisangiolysisbacteriolysiscardiolysischemolysischromatolysiscollagenolysisenterolysiserythrolysis
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

hydrolysis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hydrolysis

MLA

“hydrolysis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hydrolysis. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hydrolysis,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hydrolysis.

Source: hydrolysis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.