Lysis

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈlaɪsɪs/

Origin

From the Latin lysis, from the Ancient Greek λύσις ("a loosening"); compare -lysis.

Full definition of lysis

Noun

1. (medicine, pathology) A gradual recovery from disease (opposed to crisis).
• 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Folio Society 2008, p. 157:The older medicine used to speak of two ways, lysis and crisis, one gradual, the other abrupt, in which one might recover from a bodily disease.
2. (biochemistry) The disintegration or destruction of cells
3. (biochemistry) The breakdown of molecules into constituent molecules

Related terms

• lyse
• -lysis

Anagrams

• sylis