osmoticum

English

Etymology

From osmotic +‎ -um. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “No English -um suffix explains this.”)

Noun

osmoticum (plural osmotica)

1. (biology) Any substance that acts to supplement osmotic pressure in a cell
   • 1998 June 19, Emanuel Epstein, “How Calcium Enhances Plant Salt Tolerance”, in Science‎^[1], volume 280, number 5371, →DOI, pages 1906–1907:

     Second, potassium is a major osmoticum of plant cells, an especially crucial feature for plants under high-salt conditions, and one requiring controlled partitioning of the element among organs, tissues, and cell compartments.