interstitialadj.n.
/ɪntəˈstɪʃəl/ A. adj.
1. Of the nature of an interstice; forming interstices.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > [adjective] > forming an intervening space > having nature or quality of small
interstitious1592
interstitial1646
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica ii. i. 55 In oyled paper..the interstital divisions being continuated by the accession of oyle, it becommeth more transparent. View more context for this quotation
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 108. ⁋7 Those interstitial vacancies which intervene in the most crowded employment.
1830 H. Kater & D. Lardner Treat. Mechanics ii. 17 The volume [of a body] consists partly of material particles, and partly of interstitial spaces.
1846 J. D. Dana U.S. Exploring Exped.: Zoophytes iv. 76 The interstitial spaces between adjoining polyps.
2.
a. Of a thing: Pertaining to, existing in, or occupying interstices.
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the world > space > relative position > condition or fact of being interjacent > position of being among > [adjective] > occupying interstices
interstitial1665
interstitiated1665
1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 96 According as these pores are more or greater in respect of the interstitial bodies.
1709 Philos. Trans. 1708–09 (Royal Soc.) 26 264 When there is a larger quantity of Interstitial Air to remove.
1879 F. Rutley Study of Rocks x. 130 The hornblendic matter merely appearing as little interstitial specks between the magnetite granules.
b. Anatomy. interstitial tissue, the fine connective tissue lying between the cells of other tissue. interstitial organs, smaller organs of the body situated between larger ones.
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the world > life > the body > bodily substance > connective tissue > [noun] > type of
white tissue1826
interstitial tissue1835
stroma1835
mucous tissue1860
neuroglia1860
scar tissue1875
glia1886
astroglia1925
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 510/1 The interstitial tissue varies according to the age and temperament of the individual.
1876 J. Van Duyn & E. C. Seguin tr. E. L. Wagner Man. Gen. Pathol. 239 In the interstitial or subpleural pulmonary tissue.
c. Entomology. Situated in the interstices or spaces between the striæ, e.g. on the elytra of beetles.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > parts of insects > [adjective] > of marking or colouring > streaked > in spaces between striae
interstitial1900
1900 D. Sharp Biol. Centr. Amer., Coleoptera II. i. 620 The peculiar interstitial punctuation [of the elytra] making it recognizable at a glance.
d. Occupying an interval in time or order.
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the world > time > [adjective] > intervening
middlea1200
meana1382
interloping1603
interim1604
intercurrent1611
odd1618
intermediate1623
intervenient1629
intermedian1656
interveninga1781
interstitial1841
1841 E. Hawkins Silver Coins Eng. (1887) 245 Edward IV, in his interstitial usurpation.
1859 W. E. Gladstone in Q. Rev. Oct. 464 ‘The Brook’, with its charming interstitial soliloquy..will..always rank among Mr. Tennyson's happy efforts.
e. Physics. Situated between the normally occupied points of a crystal lattice. Cf. sense A. 5.
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the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > crystal lattice > [adjective] > interstitial space
interstitial1938
1938 Trans. Faraday Soc. 34 851 Motion..is possible by jumps of ions from one interstitial position to the neighbouring one... An interstitial ion takes the place of a neighbouring lattice ion.
1940 F. Seitz Mod. Theory Solids xiv. 496 Semi-conductors, such as zinc oxide, that have interstitial atoms.
1966 C. R. Tottle Sci. Engin. Materials iv. 92 There may be interstitial atoms present in a lattice as impurities.
3. Of a physical or morbid process: Taking place in the interstices of a body; spec. in Physiology. Affecting the internal structure of an organ or part by acting in its interstices or on its interstitial tissue; as interstitial absorption, interstitial emphysema, interstitial growth. interstitial pregnancy, that in which the development of the ovum takes place in that portion of the Fallopian tube which passes through the uterine wall.
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the world > life > biology > substance > [adjective] > interstitial or intrastitial
interstitial1793
intrastitial1873
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > [adjective] > affecting specific tissues
interstitial1793
submucous1823
pseudomembranous1826
membranous1829
subserous1872
massive1897
1793 M. Baillie Morbid Anat. ix. 148 This change [in the liver] must arise from a process which takes place through its whole substance, and seems to be what Mr. Hunter has called the interstitial absorption.
1845 R. B. Todd & W. Bowman Physiol. Anat. I. 121 Bone..grows in an interstitial manner after being originally deposited.
1858 J. H. Bennet Nutrition iv. 100 The variable activity of interstitial nutritive changes, rapid in the child, slow in the aged.
1877 F. T. Roberts Handbk. Med. (ed. 3) I. 391 Interstitial pneumonia runs a very chronic course.
4. Having interstices. rare.
ΚΠ
1855 P. J. Bailey Mystic 25 The interstitial net of death.
5. Containing atoms or ions in interstitial positions: cf. sense A. 2e.
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the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > crystal lattice > [adjective] > interstitial space > containing atoms or ions interstitially
interstitial1933
1933 W. H. Bragg & W. L. Bragg Crystalline State I. vii. 158 The atoms of H, N, C, or B are placed in the interstices of the metallic structures... Such structures are called Einlagerungsstrukturen by Hägg, and will be referred to here as ‘interstitial structures’... All hydrides and nitrides [of transition elements], and some carbides, fall within the first category of interstitial compounds.
1948 Acta Crystallogr. 1 180/1 A large number of metals form metal-like phases with hydrogen, boron, carbon, nitrogen, and occasionally oxygen... Following suggestions of Hägg, these phases are generally regarded as interstitial solutions of the small, light elements in the metals.
1967 B. L. Shaw Inorg. Hydrides xi. 101 It is now known that the metal lattice often does change when the hydrogen is absorbed so that the term ‘interstitial hydride’ is not a good one.
B. n. Physics.
An interstitial atom or ion.
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the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > crystal inclusions > [noun] > intercalate atoms, molecules, or ions
interstitial1961
intercalate1964
the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > arrangement in crystal > [noun] > type of imperfection > atom or ion involved in
interstitial1961
1961 Physical Rev. 124 669/2 If the interstitial is displaced slightly from its position in configuration ‘B’ toward surrounding crowdion, ‘body-centred’ or ‘A’ interstitial positions the calculations show that the interstitial returns to its position in configuration ‘B’.
1969 New Scientist 15 May (Feature section) 6/2 The crystal merely provides a kind of ‘space’ in which various well-defined families of defect ‘particles’ exist. The most notable of these elementary defects are vacancies..; interstitials..; and dislocations.
1972 Physics Bull. July 400/1 At the temperatures relevant to the operation of fast reactors both vacancies and interstitials, produced as a consequence of radiation damage, are able to migrate under thermal activation.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1646