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Webster 1913 Edition


Crystalline

Crys′tal-line

(kr?s′tal-l?n or -l?n; 277)
,
Adj.
[L.
crystallinus
, from Gr. [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK]: cf. F.
cristallin
. See
Crystal
.]
1.
Consisting, or made, of crystal.
Mount, eagle, to my palace
crystalline
.
Shakespeare
2.
Formed by crystallization; like crystal in texture.
Their
crystalline
structure.
Whewell.
3.
Imperfectly crystallized;
as, granite is only
crystalline
, while quartz crystal is perfectly crystallized
.
4.
Fig.: Resembling crystal; pure; transparent; pellucid.
“The crystalline sky.”
Milton.
Crystalline heavens
, or
Crystalline spheres
,
in the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, two transparent spheres imagined to exist between the region of the fixed stars and the primum mobile (or outer circle of the heavens, which by its motion was supposed to carry round all those within it), in order to explain certain movements of the heavenly bodies.
Crystalline lens
(Anat.)
,
the capsular lenslike body in the eye, serving to focus the rays of light. It consists of rodlike cells derived from the external embryonic epithelium.

Crys′tal-line

,
Noun.
1.
A crystalline substance.
2.
See
Aniline
.
[Obs.]

Definition 2024


crystalline

crystalline

English

Adjective

crystalline (comparative more crystalline, superlative most crystalline)

  1. Of, relating to, or composed of crystals.
  2. (chemistry) Having a regular three-dimensional molecular structure.
  3. Resembling crystal in being clear and transparent.

Derived terms

  • crystalline lens
  • pericrystalline

Translations

Antonyms

Noun

crystalline (plural crystallines)

  1. (obsolete) Any crystalline substance.
  2. (obsolete) aniline

Latin

Adjective

crystalline

  1. vocative masculine singular of crystallinus