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/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒlɪsɪs

Noun

electrolysis (countable and uncountable, plural electrolyses)

1. (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.

2. 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 (toṛit bisleśon)
• 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 (ja) (でんきぶんかい, tenkibunkai)
• Kannada: ವಿದ್ಯುದ್ವಿಭಜನೆ (vidyudvibhajane)
• Kazakh: электролиз (kk) (élektroliz), электрыдырау (élektrydyrau)
• Malay: elektrolisis (ms)
• Malayalam: വൈദ്യുതവിശ്ലേഷണം (ml) (vaidyutaviślēṣaṇaṁ)
• 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

See also

• electroplating