What is the medical term meaning away from the midline of the body? Lateral means away from the midline. Lateral Lateral is a term that means farther from the midline of the body.
For other uses, see Solvent (disambiguation). A solvent (from the Latin solvÅ, I loosen, untie, I solve) is a substance that dissolves a solute (a chemically different liquid, solid or gas), resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid or a gas.
A simple solution is basically two substances that are evenly mixed together. One of them is called the solute and the other is the solvent. A solute is the substance to be dissolved (sugar). The solvent is the one doing the dissolving (water). As a rule of thumb, there is usually more solvent than solute. Be patient with the next sentence as we put it all together.