crystallite

[kris-tl-ahyt]

noun

Mineralogy.

1. a minute body in glassy igneous rock, showing incipient crystallization.

crystallite

/ ˈkrɪstəˌlaɪt, ˌkrɪstəˈlɪtɪk /

noun

1. any of the minute rudimentary or imperfect crystals occurring in many glassy rocks

Other Word Forms

• crystallitic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of crystallite¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; crystall- + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

When the rotating building blocks rub together strongly enough, the solid can fragment into many smaller spinning crystallites.

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These proteins, structurally similar to those found in human hair, were found to transform into silk-like beta crystallites through simple application of stretching forces during formation.

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And they are trying to encourage the growth of CO2-hungry magnesium carbonate crystals by dispersing tiny crystallites of a mineral in the tailings.

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But the random orientation of millions of crystallites in powders leads to loss of information that is retained if measurements are performed on single crystals.

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Piezoelectrics are made up of either myriad tiny crystallites or single crystals of a variety of materials including ceramics and polymers.

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