Endmember
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A member at one end of a range or series made up of similar members.
"Most significant is the observation that the vaporous for the more volatile end member occupies a decreasingly smaller portion of the diagram as the other end member becomes less volatile. Ultimately, when the less volatile end member is essentially involatile, the vaporous of the volatile end member may become microscopically small."
- 2 A mineral that occurs at one end in a range of solid solutions. specifically
"This group of tetragonal silicates seems to form a graduated series from akermanite to gehlenite, the constitution of the two end[-]members being (where R = Ca, with less Mg, Mn, Fe, Na₂): / Akermanite, R₄Si₂O₁₀, or R₃(RSi)Si₂O₁₀, / Gehlenite, R₃Al₂Si₃O₁₀, or R₃(Al₃)Si₃O₁₀, […]"
Example
More examples"Most significant is the observation that the vaporous for the more volatile end member occupies a decreasingly smaller portion of the diagram as the other end member becomes less volatile. Ultimately, when the less volatile end member is essentially involatile, the vaporous of the volatile end member may become microscopically small."
Etymology
From end + member.
Related phrases
More for "endmember"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.