Having unequal osmotic pressure or tension, especially in chemistry and biology when solutions have different concentrations on different sides of a membrane.
From Greek 'aniso-' (unequal) + 'tonikos' (of tone or tension), from 'tonos' (tone). This scientific term emerged in 19th-century chemistry to describe unequal osmotic conditions.
When you drop a cell into water versus salt solution, the cell responds completely differently because of anisotonic conditions—this is why athletes drink electrolyte drinks instead of pure water.
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