Science & Tech > Earth > Crystallography

Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.

allomeric of similar crystalline structure.
allomerism similarity of crystalline structure in substances of different chemical composition.
allomerous exhibiting allomerism, similarity of crystalline structure in substances of different chemical composition.
allomorph any one of two or more distinct crystalline forms of the same substance.
allomorphic of or like an allomorph.
allotrope an allotropic form of a substance.
allotropism the state of an element existing in more than one form.
allotropy the property whereby certain elements may exist in more than one crystal structure.
anorthic of crystals, triclinic, referable to three unequal oblique axes.
axonometry the branch of crystallography concerned with measurement of the axes of crystals.
bimorph a device consisting of two crystals cemented together.
bipyramid a crystal formed of two pyramids base to base.
bisectrix the bisector of the angle between the optic axes of a crystal.
brachyaxis in crystallography, the shorter lateral axis.
brachydiagonal in crystallography, the shorter lateral axis.
clinoaxis in crystallography, the clinodiagonal.
clinodiagonal in a monoclinic crystal, that lateral axis which is not perpendicular to the vertical axis.
crystalisable able to be crystalised.
crystalisation the process of forming a crystal.
crystalise to form a crystal.
crystaliser something that crystalises.
crystalizable able to be crystalised.
crystalization the process of crystalizing.
crystalize to form a crystal.
crystalizer something that crystalizes.
crystalline strikingly clear or sparkling; (noun) a crystalline substance.
crystallinity the quality of being crystalline.
crystallisable able to be crystallised.
crystallisation the process of crystallising.
crystallise to form a crystal.
crystalliser an agent that causes crystallisation.
crystallite any of the minute rudimentary or imperfect crystals occurring in many glassy rocks.
crystallitic of or like crystallite, any of the minute rudimentary or imperfect crystals occurring in many glassy rocks.
crystallizable able to be crystallized.
crystallization the act of crystallizing.
crystallize to form a crystal.
crystallizer an agent that causes crystallisation.
crystallography a science that deals with the forms and structures of crystals.
crystalloid a water-soluble crystal able to diffuse through semi-permeable membranes.
crystalloidal of or like a crystalloid.
dendrite a treelike crystalline aggregate or skeleton crystal.
dendritic of or like a dendrite.
dendritical of or like a dendrite.
diadochy replacement of one element in a crystal by another.
enantiotropy the existence in a substance of two crystal forms, one stable above, the other below, a transition temperature.
endomorphy the state of being an endomorph, a crystal of one species inclosed within one of another, as one of rutile inclosed in quartz.
epitaxial relating to epitaxy, the growth of a thin layer of crystals on another crystal so that they have the same structure.
epitaxially (Adv.) EPITAXIAL, relating to epitaxy, the growth of a thin layer of crystals on another crystal.
epitaxic relating to epitaxy, the growth of a thin layer of crystals on another crystal so that they have the same structure.
epitaxy the growth of a thin layer of crystals on another crystal so that they have the same structure.
eutropy the regular variation in crystalline form of a series of compounds.
hemicrystalline consisting of crystals in a glassy or partly glassy groundmass.
hemihedral of a crystal or crystal class, having half of the maximum number of faces or symmetry planes possible for a given crystal system.
hemihedry a property of crystals of being hemihedral.
hemitrope of a crystal, twinned; (noun) a twinned crystal.
hemitropism the state of being a hemitrope, a twinned crystal.
idiomorphic of well-crystallized minerals, having a characteristic shape.
idiomorphically (Adv.) IDIOMORPHIC, of well-crystallized minerals, having a characteristic shape.
intersertal having interstitial crystalline or glassy matter between feldspar laths.
interstitial occurring in an interstice (noun) an extra atom in a crystal lattice, causing a defect
isomorph a substance which is similar to another in crystalline form and composition.
leucitohedron the cubic icositetrahedron, simulated by typical leucite crystals.
macrodiagonal in crystallography, the longer lateral axis.
macrodome a dome parallel to the longer lateral axis of an orthorhombic crystal.
macropinacoid a crystalline pinacoid which runs parallel to the longer horizontal axis.
macropinakoid in crystallography, a pinakoid and prism parallel to the macrodiagonal.
macroprism in crystallography, a prism parallel to the macrodiagonal.
metamict of or denoting the amorphous state of a substance that has lost its crystalline structure as a result of the radioactivity of uranium or thorium within it.
metamictisation the process of becoming metamict.
metamictization the process of becoming metamict.
monocrystal a single crystal.
monocrystalline of or like a monocrystal.
morphotropy the effect on crystalline form of the addition or substitution of an element or radical.
noncrystalline not crystalline.
orthoaxis in crystallography, the orthodiagonal.
orthodiagonal in a monoclinic crystal, that lateral axis which is perpendicular to the vertical axis.
orthopinakoid in monoclinic crystals, a form consisting of two faces parallel to the orthodiagonal and the vertical axis.
paramorph a pseudomorph formed by a change in molecular structure without change of chemical composition.
paramorphic relating to a paramorph.
paramorphous of or like a paramorph.
perimorph a crystal of one species enclosing one of another species.
perimorphic like a perimorph.
perimorphous like a perimorph.
phenocryst a larger crystal in a porphyritic rock.
pinacoid a crystal face, or a crystallographic form consisting of a pair of faces, parallel to two axes.
pinacoidal denoting a type of crystal face.
pinakoid a crystal form consisting of two (or more) parallel planes or faces.
pinakoidal dentoing a type of crystal face.
poikilitic mottled; having small crystals of one mineral irregularly scattered in larger crystals of another.
polycrystal an object composed of several or many variously orientated crystals.
polycrystalline consisting of crystals variously oriented.
polymorph a substance capable of crystallizing in several distinct forms called allomorphs.
polymorphism the circumstance in which two minerals with different crystalline structures have identical chemical compositions, eg diamond and graphite.
pseudosymmetry a deceptively close approach by a crystal to a higher degree of symmetry.
pyroelectricity electric charge produced in some crystals by temperature changes.
quasicrystal a body of solid material that resembles a crystal in being composed of repeating structural units but that incorporates two or more unit cells into a quasiperiodic structure.
recrystallise to crystallise again.
recrystallize to crystallize again.
semicrystallic having, or being, a partly crystalline structure.
semicrystalline incompletely or imperfectly crystalline.
sphaerocrystal a rounded crystalline mass.
stauroscope an instrument for studying the structure of crystals with polarised light.
stauroscopic of or like a stauroscope, an instrument for studying the structure of crystals with polarised light.
trapezohedron a crystalline form whose faces are trapeziums.
trichroism the quality possessed by some crystals of presenting different colors in three different directions.
triclinic of crystals, having, or characterized by, three unequal axes intersecting at oblique angles.
trimorph a substance which crystallizes in three distinct forms, or which has three distinct physical states.
trimorphism the property of crystallizing in three forms.
uncrystallised not crystallised.
uncrystallized not crystallized.
xenocryst a crystal or mineral grain which has been taken in by magma during its upward flow.