solvent

The solvent is the substance that does the dissolving in a solution — usually present in the larger amount.

• Water is often called the "universal solvent" because it dissolves such an enormous range of substances — salts, sugars, and even gases like oxygen.
• A solvent doesn't have to be a liquid dissolving a solid — two liquids can form a solution too, with whichever one is present in greater quantity playing the solvent's role.
• Ayurveda, Siddha, and other traditional Indian medicine systems have long relied on water, oils, ghee, and milk as solvents to extract a plant's therapeutic compounds — a solvent's usefulness goes well beyond the kitchen.
• A solvent's capacity to dissolve a solute isn't limitless — every solvent reaches a point of saturation, beyond which no more solute will dissolve into it at that temperature.