hydrolysis

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The reaction of water with another chemical compound to form two or more products, involving ionization of the water molecule and usually splitting the other compound. Examples include the catalytic conversion of starch to glucose, saponification, and the formation of acids or bases from dissolved ions.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A kind of chemical decomposition by which a compound is broken up and resolved into other compounds by taking up the elements of water.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Chem.) A chemical process causing the splitting of a chemical bond by the addition of the elements of water. .

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun chemistry A chemical process of decomposition involving the splitting of a bond and the addition of the hydrogen cation and the hydroxide anion of water.
• noun biochemistry The degradation of certain biopolymers (proteins, complex sugars) by the chemical process that results in smaller polymers or monomers (such as amino acids or monosaccharides)

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a chemical reaction in which water reacts with a compound to produce other compounds; involves the splitting of a bond and the addition of the hydrogen cation and the hydroxide anion from the water