Crystalline
adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Any crystalline substance. obsolete
- 2 Aniline. obsolete
- 1 Of, relating to, or composed of crystals.
- 2 Having a regular three-dimensional molecular structure.
- 3 Resembling crystal in being clear and transparent
"There the roſy-finger'd Spring, by the liquid mirror of a cryſtalline pool, was attiring her fair daughters in ſeven-fold ornaments, while the love-whiſpering breezes ſtole kiſſes as they paſſed, and fanned their glowing beauties."
- 4 Pure.
"not in his favoured midfield role, either but as a false No 9: the sort of role Guardiola only hands to his chosen, crystalline few: Mario Götze at Bayern Munich (less successfully), Lionel Messi at Barcelona (a little more so)."
- 1 consisting of or containing or of the nature of crystals wordnet
- 2 transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity wordnet
- 3 distinctly or sharply outlined wordnet
Example
More examples"This molecule has a crystalline structure."
Etymology
From Middle English cristallyn, cristallyne, from Old French cristallin and its etymon Latin crystallinus, from Ancient Greek κρυστάλλινος (krustállinos), from κρύσταλλος (krústallos, “crystal”) + -ῐνος (-ĭnos, adjectival suffix). By surface analysis, crystal + -ine.
Related phrases
More for "crystalline"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.