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.
Essentially, a solvent works by pulling apart solute particles and forming complexes with them. The result is a mixture in which the solute particles are mixed together with the solvent particles, typically with little clusters of solvent molecules around each solute particle. Solvents can be solids, liquids, or gases. An example of a solid solvent is an alloy, where the metal acts as the solvent for whatever other particles are incorporated. A liquid solvent would be the water in salt water. A gaseous solvent would be the nitrogen in air, into which other gases, including oxygen, are mixed. OK.