crystalline
/ˈkrɪst(ə)lʌɪn
/adjective
1Having the structure and form of a crystal; composed of crystals: a crystalline rock...
- This crystalline structure is an orderly arrangement of ions known as a crystal lattice.
- Changing the state of a substance with asymmetric bonds requires more energy than a crystalline structure would.
- They consist of metals and nonmetals bound together in a crystalline or non-crystalline structure.
1.1 literary Very clear: he writes a crystalline prose...
- How much more fun law school would be if the prose were crystalline!
- He credits this awesome landscape with inspiring many of the crystalline passages of prose that have illuminated his other books.
- Very often, these images are transcendentally brilliant, particularly those shot in crystalline black and white.
Derivatives
crystallinity
- The process controls the size, shape and crystallinity of particles - improving the effectiveness of products from inhalants to water-insoluble drugs.
- Upon compression, a cholesterol film transforms from a monolayer of trigonal symmetry and low crystallinity to a trilayer, composed of a highly crystalline bilayer in a rectangular lattice and a disordered top cholesterol layer.
- The intermediate layer provides an improvement to the crystallinity of the ferroelectric layer which results in enhanced performance to the transistor, for example the turn-on voltage.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French cristallin, via Latin from Greek krustallinos, from krustallos (see crystal).