cryptocrystalline

[ krip-toh-kris-tl-in, -ahyn ]

/ ˌkrɪp toʊˈkrɪs tl ɪn, -ˌaɪn /

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adjective Mineralogy.

having a microscopic crystalline structure.

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Origin of cryptocrystalline

First recorded in 1860–65; crypto- + crystalline

Words nearby cryptocrystalline

cryptoclimate, cryptoclimatology, cryptococcal meningitis, cryptococcosis, cryptococcus, cryptocrystalline, cryptocurrency, cryptogam, cryptogenic, cryptogram, cryptograph

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cryptocrystalline in a sentence

That is, the metamorphic rocks are characteristically holocrystalline, while igneous rocks are porphyritic, or cryptocrystalline.
North America|Israel C. Russell

British Dictionary definitions for cryptocrystalline

cryptocrystalline

/ (ˌkrɪptəʊˈkrɪstəlaɪn) /

adjective

(of rocks) composed of crystals that can be distinguished individually only by the use of a polarizing microscope

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for cryptocrystalline

cryptocrystalline

[ krĭp′tō-krĭs′tə-lĭn, -līn′ ]

Having a microscopic crystalline structure, as the mineral chalcedony does.