crystallizedcrystalizedcrystallisedadj.
/ˈkrɪstəlʌɪzd/, /ˈkrɪstl̩ʌɪzd/, U.S. /ˈkrɪstəˌlaɪzd/ 1. Chiefly poetic. Esp. of water: clear and transparent like crystal. Also: made of crystal. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > transparency or translucence > [adjective] > made transparent
crystallized1600
crystalled1635
1600 C. Tourneur Transformed Metamorph. sig. D5v The cristallized fount, That streames along the valley of Artes mount.
1650 H. More Observ. Anthroposophia Theomagica 29 The Saints and Angels at each pole of the Earth may play at Boepeep with one another through this crystallized Globe.
1661 S. Pordage Mundorum Explicatio ii. 263 That source, whose crystallized streams Pearl Life's fair Trees, Roots with their matchless gemm.
1859 E. Temple Christian's Daily Treasury (ed. 2) 67 A fair and bright prospect of a celestial paradise, a crystallized river, and fields of living green.
1993 B. O'Connor Here comes John 67 A crystallised punch bowl.
2.
a. Formed into crystals, having a crystalline form.
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the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystallization > [adjective] > crystallized
incrystalleda1649
crystallized1651
roched1666
1651 J. French tr. J. R. Glauber Descr. New Philos. Furnaces ii. 128 The Tartar water being strained, let it stand for 24. or 30. houres without stirring, and there will stick a crystallised Tartar to the sides of the vessel.
1667 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 2 468 That kind of Vitriol..is affirmed to be found chrystallized in Transylvania.
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 178 Crystallized Ores and Minerals.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters iii. 236 All perfectly petrified; some into bright crystallised spar.
1795 W. Nicholson Dict. Chem. I. 514 A native alkaline salt..which is found crystallized in Egypt.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House lvii. 556 The crystallised snow was in his eyelashes, in his hair, lying in ridges on his dress.
1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 626/1 The molasses is drained away from the crystallized raw sugar.
1988 Observer 24 July 15/3 Crack..is crystallised cocaine base.
2004 Vogue Feb. 142/3 There are..rose and violet petals covered in crystallized sugar.
b. figurative. Fixed, concrete; made clear and defined.
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the world > space > shape > [adjective] > having definite shape
shapen1483
figurate1626
figured1626
shapely1827
shaped1845
crystallized1847
morphous1852
1847 T. F. Clary Honorable Old Age 17 It is the crystallized thought and feeling of a former age.
1871 C. Davies Metric Syst. ii. 47 Before the mind can grasp, as a crystallized idea, the fractional unit one-tenth.
1935 W. Y. Evans-Wentz Tibetan Yoga 16 Matter, as we see it, being crystallized mental energy.
1955 P. Heron Changing Forms Art 70 They are the crystallized thoughts of an inventor.
1994 S. Pinker Lang. Instinct iv. 118 Function words are bits of crystallized grammar.
3. Of fruit, ginger, petals, etc.: preserved by impregnation with sugar and usually coated with sugar crystals.
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the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > preserve > [adjective]
crystallized1836
1836 B. E. Hill Recoll. Artillery Officer I. iv. 54 ‘What say you to a slice of melon?’ said I, sticking a fork into the crystallized fruit.
1875 L. Troubridge Jrnl. 25 Dec. in J. Hope-Nicholson Life amongst Troubridges (1966) 133 Funny little presents they were—mostly boxes of choc. and crystallised fruits.
1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal I. vii. 215 Somebody said it was a theatre which looked as if it ought to be filled with glacé chestnuts, or crystallized violets.
1936 W. H. Auden & C. Isherwood Ascent of F6 i. iii. 50 Drinks and eats little but is fond of crystallized apricots.
1970 A. Parker Cooking for Christmas i. 56 Young stem ginger for dessert comes preserved in syrup;..or an alternative is good crystallized ginger, in boxes or tins.
1993 Washington Post 8 Dec. e5/1 The mauvy tint of crystallized violets.
4. Designating a surface finish on a metal or other material which gives the appearance of being crystalline.
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1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 863 Moirée métallique, called in this country crystallized tin-plate, is a variegated primrose appearance, produced upon the surface of tin-plate, by applying to it in a heated state some dilute nitro-muriatic acid for a few seconds, then washing it with water, drying, and coating it with lacquer.
1909 Brass World Jan. 7/1 The method herein described for producing the ‘snowflake’ or ‘crystallized’ finish on brass was discovered by E. A. Barnard, of New Britain, Conn., the well-known electroplater.
1967 E. Chambers Photolitho-offset xvi. 242 It gives the dried ink film a hard unresilient surface (termed crystallised), causing difficulty when overprinting succeeding colours.
2003 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 6 Nov. a14 The glasswork..has a unique marbled and crystallized finish that she said is caused by the irregular time it spent in the kiln.
Compounds
crystallized intelligence n. (a) intelligence in embodied or established form; (b) Psychology that part of measurable intelligence which is learned and habitual; contrasted with fluid intelligence.
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1862 O. W. Holmes Border Lines Knowl. Med. Sci. 48 Instinct, which is crystallized intelligence,—an absolute law with its invariable planes and angles introduced into the sphere of consciousness.
1941 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 35 1060 Plato does not touch upon the problem of promulgation as it relates to the ‘rule of men’, because there is no place in the ideal state for an average rule, for equitable treatment of like cases, or for crystallized intelligence.
1943 R. B. Cattell in Psychol. Bull. 40 178 Crystallized ability consists of discriminatory habits long established in a particular field, originally through the operation of fluid ability, but not longer requiring insightful perception for their successful operation.]
1944 Rev. Educ. Res. 14 438 Cattell..listed forty-four available adult intelligence tests..suggesting the difference between fluid and crystallized intelligence.
1986 S. K. Whitbourne Adult Devel. (ed. 2) v. 144 The intensive schooling children receive is seen as adding to the neurological maturation taking place at the same time so that crystallized intelligence should also grow rapidly.
2005 T. Fasokun et al. Psychol. Adult Learning in Afr. v. 71 Older persons tend to compensate increasingly for the loss of fluid intelligence by greater reliance on crystallised intelligence, substituting wisdom for brilliance.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1600