Photosynthesis
Etymology
From Greek "photo" (light) plus "synthesis" (a putting together), literally “building with light.” The term was adopted in the late 19th century as the chemistry of plant nutrition came clear.
noun · /foh-toh-SIN-thuh-sis/
The process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen.
What it names
The reaction that feeds almost the entire living world and fills the air with breathable oxygen — the original solar power.
Example
The oxygen in every breath you take was released by photosynthesis, most of it out in the oceans by microscopic algae.
Related idea
Photosynthesis stores solar energy in sugar and releases oxygen; respiration runs the reaction backward, burning that sugar with oxygen to release the energy again. The two together cycle carbon through all of life.
See also