recrystallizev.
/ˌriːˈkrɪstl̩ʌɪz/, /ˌriːˈkrɪstəlʌɪz/, U.S. /ˌriˈkrɪstəˌlaɪz/ 1. Chemistry.
a. transitive. To crystallize again; esp. to purify (a crystalline substance) by dissolving it in a solvent and concentrating the resultant solution, causing crystals to reappear, impurities being left in the liquid. Also occasionally figurative.
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the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystallization > [verb (transitive)] > recrystallization
recrystallize1724
the world > space > shape > shape or give shape to [verb (transitive)] > put into definite form > an immaterial thing > again or anew
recrystallize1882
1724 Philos. Trans. 1722–3 (Royal Soc.) 32 350 It is now so scandalously counterfeited, that it is little else than common Salt dissolv'd and recrystalized.
1797 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 87 397 In marine acid they would re-dissolve, and might be re-crystallized.
1849 D. Campbell Pract. Text-bk. Inorg. Chem. 118 It may be obtained by dissolving and recrystallizing the impure salt imported.
1882 J. A. Froude T. Carlyle: First Forty Years I. xx. 383 What he took into his mind was dissolved and recrystallised into original combinations of his own.
1907 G. M. Norman Systematic Pract. Org. Chem. ii. iii. 60 The o-nitrophenol distils over, is filtered, washed, and recrystallised from a mixture of alcohol and water.
1960 F. G. Mann & B. C. Saunders Pract. Org. Chem. (ed. 4) ii. 93 Recrystallise the crude dry product from a minimum of 60–80° petrol or (less suitably) cyclohexane.
2000 Corporate Legal Times (Nexis) Nov. 82 They..failed to disclose the inventor's preferred solvent for recrystallizing the substance.
b. intransitive. To form crystals again; to undergo recrystallization. Also occasionally figurative.
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1839 J. W. Webster Man. Chem. (ed. 3) vi. 380 The crystals..give out white irritating vapours, which condense upon cold surfaces and recrystallize.
1854 Proc. Royal Soc. 7 538 When heated it [sc. datiscetine] melts... It recrystallizes on cooling.
1927 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 101 524 Only pure arginine flavate recrystallises from acid of this concentration.
1981 Cook's Mag. Nov.–Dec. 35/2 By heating the water, it becomes possible to dissolve additional sugar, forming a supersaturated solution. This solution is extremely unstable and runs the risk of recrystallizing instantly if not heated correctly.
2003 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 5 Mar. e5 The lithe dancers were constantly twisting and turning..ensemble formations constantly shattered and recrystallized.
2. transitive. Geology. Esp. of metamorphic forces operating at depth: to reorder the constituents of (a rock, mineral, etc.), forming a different crystalline structure. Also intransitive: to undergo such a transformation.
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1837 J. Phillips Treat. Geol. I. vi. 123 Every where they have suffered the influence of pervading heat, but not enough to recrystallise the fragmentary mica, quartz, and felspar.
1894 Amer. Naturalist 28 168 It is known that limestones when pure may recrystallize as marbles.
1922 T. M. Lowry Inorg. Chem. xxviii. 442 Graphite..appears much more frequently in metamorphic rocks, where a carbonaceous sediment has been carried down and recrystallised at high temperatures and pressures.
1932 F. F. Grout Petrogr. & Petrol. vii. 402 At moderate and great depths in the crust, competent rocks yield elastically up to the elastic limit and then fracture; and weaker ones recrystallize and flow.
1940 F. F. Grout Kemp's Handbk. Rocks (ed. 6) viii. 162 Excessive metamorphism may recrystallize conglomerates into rocks, simulating granite.
1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth iii. 60/2 The mineral can recrystallize to different and denser crystalline structures.
1977 Sci. Amer. Mar. 94/3 Most [continental crust]..was made early in the course of the earth's chemical differentiation and..ever since then it has been reworked, that is, heated, melted, recrystallized and deformed.
2001 New Scientist 10 Feb. 45/2 The oceanic rocks of the plateau then melted and recrystallised to form a light, continental-style rock called tonalite.
3. intransitive. Metallurgy. Of a cold-worked metal: to undergo a change of crystalline structure when heated above a certain temperature. Cf. recrystallization n. 3.
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1900 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 193 190 When the metal re-crystallises after severe strain, it does so by the growth of skeleton arms that must often start from a cleavage plane of an actual solid crystal.
1946 Nature 5 Oct. 482/2 The hard rolled silver specimens when heated to about 900 °C. recrystallized very rapidly.
1991 Acta Metallurgica et Materialia 39 2595/1 The inability of aluminium to recrystallize during hot-working is attributed to its large stacking fault energy.
2001 R. W. Cahn Coming of Materials Sci. xii. 475 When a deformed metal is heated, it will recrystallise, that is to say, a new population of crystal grains will replace the deformed population.
Derivatives
reˈcrystallized adj.
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1851 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 141 383 Analysis I. was made with the precipitated, analysis II. and III. with the recrystallized salt.
1878 W. de W. Abney Treat. Photogr. (1881) 61 Recrystallised silver nitrate.
1976 P. Cotterill & P. R. Mould Recrystallization & Grain Growth in Metals iii. 40 The recrystallized grain size depends chiefly on the degree of deformation and to a lesser extent on the annealing temperature.
2000 Metallurgia (Nexis) 67 20 Recrystallized molybdenum is highly susceptible to physical damage due to its loss of ductility.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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