crystal
/ˈkɹɪstəl/
crystal noun: a solid composed of an array of atoms or molecules possessing long-range order and arranged in a pattern which is periodic in three dimensions.
Noun
crystal (countable and uncountable, plural crystals)
- A solid composed of an array of atoms or molecules possessing long-range order and arranged in a pattern which is periodic in three dimensions.
- A piece of glimmering, shining mineral resembling ice or glass.
- A fine type of glassware, or the material used to make it.
- Crystal meth; methamphetamine hydrochloride.
- He tells me he's been shooting crystal, which I already pretty much know because he does not bother to keep his sleeves rolled down over the needle tracks.1968, Joan Didion, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”, in Slouching Towards Bethlehem
- A person's eye.
- Come, let's away. My loue, giue me thy Lippes: Looke to my Chattels, and my Moueables: [...] Goe, cleare they Chryſtalls. Yokefellowes in Armes, let vs to France1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- The glass over the dial of a watch case.
Adjective
crystal (not comparable)
- Made of crystal.
- Its ceiling was crystal, around on the wall / Thickly studded were rubies and diamonds rare; / But purer than crystal, and brighter than all / Of the jewels adorning her glittering hall, / Was the mermaiden languishing there.1887, Joseph W[arren] Smith, Gleanings from the Sea: Showing the Pleasures, Pains and Penalties of Life Afloat, with Contingencies Ashore, Andover, Mass.: […] the Author, page 116
- The walls were crystal, and they seemed to have hundreds of different-colored lights shifting behind them.1985, Patricia C[ollins] Wrede, Talking to Dragons, New York, N.Y.: Tempo Books, →ISBN, page 146
- Very clear; coherent.
- "Do I make myself clear?" / "Crystal."
- […] the more faire and chriſtall is the skie,
The vglier ſeeme the cloudes that in it flye: […]1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
Proper noun capitalized: Crystal
Crystal
- A female given name from English.
- "Crystal's pretty. The name, I mean."
Jewel shook her head. "It doesn't look like her. She looks like Beaver Cleaver." […]
Crys chuckled. For the first time since she'd planted herself fiercely on Lusa's driveway that morning she sounded clear and transparent, like a child. Like the crystal she was.2000, Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer, HarperCollins, →ISBN, pages 121, 298 - "No prob. I'm wired, anyway...Christa or Crystal. Why'd Kayla peg her for a stripper?"
"Because Gavin said she was a dancer," I said.
"Well," he said, "name a girl Crystal and what's more likely? That she'll get a Ph.D. in biomechanics, or end up shaking her tail for tips?"2004, Jonathan Kellerman, Therapy, →ISBN, page 335
- "Crystal's pretty. The name, I mean."
- A surname.
- In this exhilarating and often hilarious book, David Crystal examines why we devote so much time and energy to language games, how professionals make a career of them, and how young children instinctively take to them.1998, David Crystal, Language Play
- A ghost town in Gunnison County, Colorado.
- A town in Maine.
- A city in Minnesota.
- A census-designated place in New Mexico.
- A city and town in North Dakota.
- A town in Wisconsin.
crystal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
crystal in Hindi
- array of atoms
- क्रिस्टल krisṭal, स्फटिक sphaṭik, अमल amal, बिल्लौर billaur
- mineral
- बिल्लौर billaur, अमल amal, क्रिस्टल krisṭal
- glassware
- क्रिस्टल krisṭal, बिल्लौर billaur, आबगीना ābgīnā
crystal in Tamil
- array of atoms
- படிகம் paṭikam
crystal in Marathi
- array of atoms
- स्फटिक sphaṭik
crystal in Urdu
- array of atoms
- بِلُّور billūr, بَلُّور m بِلَّور ballūr
More languagesFewer languages
- crystal in Bengali
- স্ফটিক sphoṭik, কেলাস kelaś
- crystal in Telugu
- స్ఫటికము sphaṭikamu, స్ఫటికం sphaṭikaṁ
- crystal in Malayalam
- സ്ഫടികം sphaṭikaṁ, പളുങ്ക് paḷuṅkŭ
- crystal in Kannada
- ಸ್ಫಟಿಕ sphaṭika
- crystal in Punjabi
- ਬਲੌਰ balaur
- crystal in Gujarati
- બિલોર bilor, કાચ kāc
- crystal in Odia
- ସ୍ଫଟିକ, କ୍ରିଷ୍ଟାଲ୍, କ୍ରିଷ୍ଟାଲ
- crystal in Sanskrit
- स्फटिक sphaṭika, अमल amala
- crystal in Sinhala
- පළිඟු paḷiⁿgu
- crystal in Nepali
- क्रिस्टल
- crystal in Tagalog
- kristal
- crystal in Arabic
- بِلَّوْرِيّ billawriyy, قَرِيس qarīs, قَرِيت qarīt, بِلَّوْر billawr
- crystal in Malay
- hablur, kristal
- crystal in Thai
- ผลึก pà-lʉ̀k, ดาลัด, เพชรน้ำค้าง
- crystal in Vietnamese
- tinh thể, pha lê
- crystal in Myanmar
- ပုံဆောင်ခဲ pumhcaunghkai:
- Dzongkha
- ཆུ་ཤེལ chu shel
Examples of crystal in a sentence
- The crystal has an anisotropic structure, as it is stronger along its length than laterally.
- He set the table with china, cloth napkins, and crystal stemware.
- The deposition of urate crystals in the joints leads to gout.
Synonyms of crystal
Antonyms
Forms of crystal
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | crystals |
| alternative form | xtal |
| alternative form (obsolete) | christal |
| alternative form (obsolete) | christall |
| alternative form (obsolete) | chrystal |
| alternative form (obsolete) | chrystall |
| alternative form (obsolete) | cristal |
| alternative form (obsolete) | cristall |
| alternative form (obsolete) | crystall |
| Proper noun | |
| alternative form | Chrystal |
Origin of crystal
From Middle English crystal, cristal, criȝstall, representing a merger of Old English cristalla (from Latin crystallus) and Anglo-Norman cristall, Old French cristal (from Latin crystallum). The Latin is derived from Ancient Greek κρύσταλλος (krústallos, “clear ice”), from κρύος (krúos, “frost”), from Proto-Indo-European *krews- (“hard, hard outer surface, crust”).
Words formed from crystal
- anticrystal
- bath crystal
- bicrystal
- biocrystal
- blood crystal
- Charcot-Leyden crystal
- cheese crystal
- clear as crystal
- cocrystal
- compound crystal
- crystal ball
- crystal cell
- Crystal City
- crystal class
- crystal clear
- crystal-clear
- crystal clock
- Crystal Creek
- crystal dick
- Crystal Falls
- crystal field theory
- crystal-gazer
- crystal gazer
- crystal-gazing
- crystal habit
- crystal healing
- crystal jelly
- crystallant
- crystal lattice
- crystalliferous
- crystal-like
- crystallin
- crystalline
- crystallite
- crystallization
- crystallisation
- crystallize
- crystallise
- crystallographer
- crystallographic defect
- crystallography
- crystalloid
- crystalluria
- crystally
- crystal magick
- crystal methamphetamine
- crystal momentum
- crystal noodle
- crystal oven
- Crystal Palace
- crystal radio
- crystal radio receiver
- Crystal River
- crystal set
- crystal sphere
- crystal stone
- crystal system
- crystalturbation
- crystal twinning
- crystal violet
Phrases with crystal
- Crystal Bay
- ice crystal
- Red Crystal
- crystal meth
- crystal sets
- lead crystal
- rock crystal
- seed crystal
- time crystal
- twin crystal
- crystal balls
- crystal cells
38 more phrasesFewer phrases
- crystal dicks
- crystal ovens
- ionic crystal
- crystal habits
- crystal radios
- crystal stones
- hopper crystal
- liquid crystal
- quartz crystal
- single crystal
- Wigner crystal
- crystal classes
- crystal clearer
- crystal clearly
- crystal jellies
- crystal momenta
- crystal noodles
- crystal spheres
- crystal systems
- Iceland crystal
- jumping crystal
- crystal clearest
- crystal lattices
- electron crystal
- mountain crystal
- negative crystal
- phononic crystal
- photonic crystal
- positive crystal
- crystal momentums
- Kingdom of Crystal
- space-time crystal
- thorn-apple crystal
- Upper Crystal Creek
- ferroelectric crystal
- liquid crystal display
- crystal radio receivers
- liquid crystal displays
Words that rhyme with crystal
Questions about crystal
- What does crystal mean?
- Crystal means a solid composed of an array of atoms or molecules possessing long-range order and arranged in a pattern which is periodic in three dimensions.
- What is crystal in Hindi?
- Crystal in Hindi is क्रिस्टल (krisṭal), स्फटिक (sphaṭik), अमल (amal). See Crystal meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is crystal?
- Crystal can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce crystal?
- Crystal is pronounced /ˈkɹɪstəl/.
- What is the plural of crystal?
- The plural of crystal is crystals.
Words near crystal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: crystal (page history and authors); Crystal (page history and authors); പളുങ്ക് (Malayalam) (page history and authors); કાચ (Gujarati) (page history and authors); crystal (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); පළිඟු (Sinhala) (page history and authors); crystal (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-ca-crystal.ogg.
Cite this entry: “crystal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/crystal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.