Origin: Greek suffix -osis
Reverse osmosis has 2 different meanings across 1 category:
(chemistry) a method of producing pure water; a solvent passes through a semipermeable membrane in a direction opposite to that for natural osmosis when it is subjected to a hydrostatic pressure greater than the osmotic pressure
a technique whereby a solution is forced through a semipermeable membrane under pressure; used to generate drinkable water from seawater, or to separate chemical compounds