What does the term "hydrolysis" refer to in chemistry?

Hydrolysis refers to the process in which a chemical bond is broken as water is added to a substance. This is a fundamental reaction in organic chemistry, where water molecules facilitate the cleavage of compounds, often resulting in the formation of new products.

When a bond in a larger molecule is broken through the addition of water, the components of the molecule become separated, typically yielding two or more smaller molecules or ions. This process is common in biological systems, for instance, in the digestion of biomolecules like proteins and carbohydrates, where polymer chains are hydrolyzed into monomers.

The other choices describe different processes that do not accurately capture the essence of hydrolysis. For instance, the process of combining two molecules would be a synthesis reaction, and the reaction involving nitrogen is unrelated to hydrolysis, which specifically involves water. The notion of adding a water molecule to a compound without breaking bonds does not represent hydrolysis since this term inherently involves the breaking of bonds through the action of water.