paracrystaln.
/ˈparəˌkrɪstl/, U.S. /ˈpɛrəˌkrɪst(ə)l/ Physical Chemistry.
An object that is not a true crystal but has some degree of order in its structure.
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paracrystal1933
1933 D. Shoenberg tr. F. Rinne in Trans. Faraday Soc. 29 1019 On addition of acetone to a cold saturated solution in acetic ester of phytosterin valerate the latter..separates out as a paracrystal.
1953 S. E. Luria Gen. Virol. v. 94 In the needles, which should more correctly be called ‘paracrystals’, the individual rods are oriented sidewise with great regularity.
1970 Jrnl. Biochem. (Tokyo) 68 885/1 Paracrystals are formed by side-by-side association of F-actin particles in the presence of an excess amount of MgCl2.
2003 Nature 6 Nov. 31/3 We recorded electron micrographs..of rhodopsin paracrystals on native disc membranes that had been prepared and imaged at room temperature.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1933