dialysis

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
dialysis /dʌɪˈalɪsɪs/

▶noun (pl. dialyses /-siːz/)

• 1 Chemistry the separation of particles in a liquid on the basis of differences in their ability to pass through a membrane.

• 2 Medicine the clinical purification of blood by dialysis, as a substitute for the normal function of the kidney.

– derivatives
dialytic adjective.

– origin C19: via L. from Gk dialusis, from dialuein ‘split, separate’.