hydrophilic

Hydrophilic, meaning 'water loving', is the chemical property of dissolving in, or orienting toward ionic, charged, solutions (such as extra- and intracellular fluids). Hydrophilic molecules or hydrophilic groups on amphipathic molecules can transiently bond with water (H2O) through the hydrogen bond. Such bonding is thermodynamically favorable, rendering these molecules soluble in water and in other polar solvents. Hydrophilic molecules are also termed polar molecules, and hydrophobic molecules are termed nonpolar molecules.