crystalloid

[kris-tl-oid]

noun

1. a usually crystallizable substance that, when dissolved in a liquid, will diffuse readily through vegetable or animal membranes.

2. Botany.,  one of certain minute crystallike granules of protein, found in the tissues of various seeds.

adjective

1. resembling a crystal.

2. of the nature of a crystalloid.

crystalloid

/ ˈkrɪstəˌlɔɪd /

adjective

1. resembling or having the appearance or properties of a crystal or crystalloid

noun

1. a substance that in solution can pass through a semipermeable membrane Compare colloid

2. botany any of numerous crystals of protein occurring in certain seeds and other storage organs

Other Word Forms

• crystalloidal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of crystalloid¹

From the Greek word krystalloeidḗs, dating back to 1860–65. See crystall-, -oid

Example Sentences

Among the first of its many innovations, it came known for the Brooke Formula, which combined blood, plasma and a crystalloid solution of water, salt and trace elements.

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He proved that a colloidal substance acts towards a crystalloid much as water does; that the crystalloid rapidly diffuses through the colloid, but that colloids are not themselves capable of diffusing through other colloids.

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The smallest individual particle of a colloid appeared to him to be a much more complex structure than the smallest particle of a crystalloid.

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The colloidal molecule appeared to be formed by the gathering together of several crystalloidal molecules; such a complex structure might be expected readily to undergo change, whereas the simpler molecule of a crystalloid would probably present more definite and less readily altered properties.

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On the results of his examination of the phenomena of diffusion of liquids and salts across porous membranes or septa, Graham founded a method of separating colloid from crystalloid bodies, which he called dialysis.

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