Etymologically
Log in

crystalline

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 02:58. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈkɹɪs.tə.lɪn/, /ˈkɹɪs.təˌlaɪn/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cristallin,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman cristallin and Middle French cristallin,[4][5][6] and directly borrowed from Latin crystallinus (“made of crystal, resembling crystal”),[4][6][7] from Ancient Greek κρυστάλλινος (krustállinos, “of crystal”),[4][7][8] from κρύσταλλος (krústallos, “ice, crystal”) and the adjective suffix -ινος (-inos).[4][2][8] The Anglo-Norman adjective is recorded from the early 13th century.[9] The OED notes that the Greek adjective already meant "icy" in ancient Greek,[4] and the American Heritage Dictionary traces the Greek noun to Proto-Indo-European *kreus-.[7] It is related to crystal, and cristalino and cristallino are its Romance counterparts.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the medieval Ptolemaic system, of the crystalline sphere, held to lie beyond the sphere of the fixed stars: before 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus.[4] Etymonline gives "made of or like crystal" from the late 14th century and "clear, transparent" from about 1400.[6]

Semantic evolution

The astronomical use followed Latin caelum crystallinum, the crystalline heaven, and the anatomical crystalline humour or lens of the eye followed Latin humor crystallinus.[4] In ordinary use the word meant clear or transparent like crystal, especially of water (about 1425, in Lydgate), and made of rock crystal or crystal glass (before 1439);[4] figuratively, since about 1550, pure or clear-cut.[4][10] The scientific sense, having the ordered structure of a crystal as opposed to amorphous, is recorded from 1558,[4] and geologists used it of rocks made of crystals from 1665.[4] Johnson (1755) gave "consisting of crystal" and "bright; clear; pellucid; transparent".[11] The OED notes that in verse it was formerly often stressed on the second syllable.[4]

Timeline

  • before 1398 – of the crystalline sphere of medieval astronomy.[4]
  • c. 1425 – clear or transparent like crystal, especially of water.[4]
  • before 1425 – noun, the crystalline lens of the eye.[4][12]
  • before 1439 – made of rock crystal or crystal glass.[4]
  • c. 1550 – figuratively, pure, clear and defined.[4]
  • 1558 – having the ordered structure of a crystal.[4]
  • 1665 – of rocks, composed of crystals.[4]
  • 1745 – relating to crystals or their formation.[4]
  • 1860 – a light silk fabric.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having the structure of a crystal, with atoms arranged in a regular repeating pattern; formed by crystallization.[13][2][4]
  2. Made of or containing crystals.[13][2]
  3. Clear and transparent like crystal: the crystalline water of the lake.[13][2][4]
  4. Clear-cut and sharply defined: a crystalline account of the evidence.[2][4]

Noun

  1. The crystalline lens of the eye.[4][12]
  2. (obsolete, 1483–1890) The crystalline sphere of medieval astronomy.[4][12]

Word family

  • crystallinity
  • uncrystalline
  • polycrystalline
  • noncrystalline
  • intercrystalline
  • microcrystalline
  • cryptocrystalline
  • semicrystalline

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins