crystal
pronunciation
How to pronounce crystal in British English:
UK [ˈkrɪstl]
How to pronounce crystal in American English:
US [ˈkrɪstl]
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- Noun:
- a solid formed by the solidification of a chemical and having a highly regular atomic structure
- a crystalline element used as a component in various electronic devices
- a rock formed by the solidification of a substance; has regularly repeating internal structure; external plane faces
- colorless glass made of almost pure silica
- glassware made of quartz
- a protective cover that protects the face of a watch
Word Origin
- crystal
- crystal: [OE] The prehistoric Indo-European base *kru- produced several words denoting ‘hard outer surface’, including English crust, Old High German hrosa ‘crust’, and Old Norse hrúthr ‘crust’. In some cases they reflect a hardening caused by freezing: Old High German hrosa, for example, also meant ‘ice’, and Greek krúos meant ‘frost’.From this was derived krustaímein ‘freeze’, which in turn formed the basis of krústallos ‘ice’. When Old English first acquired the word, via Latin crystallum and Old French cristal, it still meant ‘ice’, a sense which survived until the 16th century, although losing ground all the time to the metaphorical extension ‘clear mineral’.=> crust
- crystal (n.)
- Old English cristal "clear ice, clear mineral," from Old French cristal (12c., Modern French crystal), from Latin crystallus "crystal, ice," from Greek krystallos, from kryos "frost," from PIE root *kru(s)- "hard, hard outer surface" (see crust). Spelling adopted the Latin form 15c.-17c. The mineral has been so-called since Old English; it was regarded by the ancients as a sort of fossilized ice. As a shortened form of crystal-glass it dates from 1590s. As an adjective, from late 14c.
Example
- 1. Others -- chiseled themselves a character of finest crystal .
- 2. He gives the counter-example of a quartz crystal .
- 3. In the last 12 years more than a dozen gpcr crystal structures have been resolved .
- 4. A time lapse shot of a cancer cell dividing and beautifully spiky caffeine crystal were all finalists in the wellcome image award .
- 5. The result was a pink crystal a few centimetres long .