Lyophilic

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Having an affinity for the dispersion medium and thus not easily precipitated.

    "In second sub-group, the “emulsion-colloids” or “lyophilic colloids,” the properties of the solvent are considerably influenced. The internal friction, surface tension, and other properties of the liquid show great changes even when only a small proportion of matter is in colloidal solution."

Example

More examples

"In second sub-group, the “emulsion-colloids” or “lyophilic colloids,” the properties of the solvent are considerably influenced. The internal friction, surface tension, and other properties of the liquid show great changes even when only a small proportion of matter is in colloidal solution."

Etymology

US, c. 1908; compare earlier lyophilize (1894). lyo- (“solvent, dispersion”) + -philic (“having affinity for”), from Ancient Greek λύω (lúō, “to loosen, to dissolve”) + φίλος (phílos, “beloved”) + Latin -icus.

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