noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A mineral that did not develop its otherwise typical external crystal form because of late crystallization between earlier formed crystals, typical of matrix minerals in rapidly crystallizing volcanic lavas and shallow igneous intrusions.

Synonyms

All synonyms

xenomorphxenomorph

Etymology

Classical compound, Ancient Greek ἀλλότριος (allótrios, “foreign”) + -morph.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.