crystallite

American  

[kris-tl-ahyt] / ˈkrɪs tlˌaɪt /

noun

Mineralogy.

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

---

crystallite British  

/ ˈkrɪstəˌlaɪt, ˌkrɪstəˈlɪtɪk /

noun

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

---

Other Word Forms

• crystallitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of crystallite

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.

From Science Daily

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.

From Science Daily

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

From Science Magazine

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.

From Nature

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

From Science Magazine