Etymology : Middle English cristallin, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, from Latin crystallinus, from Greek krystallinos, from krystallos
Pronunciation : 'kris-t&-l&n
also <
Function : adjective
Date : 15th century
1. made of crystal, crystal-like, opaque. crystalline\crys"tal*line\, n.
2. a crystalline substance.
3. see:
aniline. [obs.]crystalline \crys"tal*line\ (kr?s"tal-l?n or -l?n; 277), a. [l. crystallinus, from gr. : cf. f. cristallin. see:
crystal.].
4. consisting, or made, of crystal. mount, eagle, to my palace crystalline.
5. formed by crystallization; like crystal in texture. their crystalline structure.
6. imperfectly crystallized; as, granite is only crystalline, while quartz crystal is perfectly crystallized.
7. fig.: resembling crystal; pure; transparent; pellucid. "the crystalline sky."crystalline heavens, orcrystalline 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.crystalline adj.
8. consisting of or containing or of the nature of crystals; "granite is crystalline" [ant: noncrystalline].
9. distinctly or sharply outlined; "crystalline sharpness of outline"- john buchan.
10. transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity; "the cold crystalline water of melted snow"; "crystal clear skies"; "could see:
the sand on the bottom of the limpid pool"; "lucid air"; "a pellucid brook"; "transparent cristal" [syn: crystal clear, limpid, lucid, pellucid, transparent].
11. Consisting, or made, of crystal.
12. Formed by crystallization; like crystal in texture.
13. Imperfectly crystallized; as, granite is only crystalline, while quartz crystal is perfectly crystallized.
14. Fig.: Resembling crystal; pure; transparent; pellucid.
15. A crystalline substance.
16. See Aniline. consisting of or containing or of the nature of crystals; "granite is crystalline" transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity; "the cold crystalline water of melted snow"; "crystal clear skies"; "could see:
the sand on the bottom of the limpid pool"; "lucid air"; "a pellucid brook"; "transparent cristal" distinctly or sharply outlined; "crystalline sharpness of outline"- John Buchan.
17. 1. A crystalline substance is in the form of crystals or contains crystals. Diamond is the crystalline form of the element carbon.
18. Crystalline means clear or bright. a huge plain dotted with crystalline lakes.