[kris-tl-uh-zey-shuhn] Pronunciation Key | 1. | the act or process of crystallizing. |
| 2. | a crystallized body or formation. |
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
| crys·tal·lize also crys·tal·ize
(krĭs'tə-līz') Pronunciation Key
v. crys·tal·lized also crys·tal·ized, crys·tal·liz·ing also crys·tal·iz·ing, crys·tal·liz·es also crys·tal·iz·es v. tr.
v. intr.
crys'tal·liz'a·ble adj., crys'tal·li·za'tion (-lĭ-zā'shən) n., crys'tal·liz'er n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
| crystallization | |
noun | |
| 1. | the formation of crystals |
| 2. | a rock formed by the solidification of a substance; has regularly repeating internal structure; external plane faces [syn: crystal] |
| 3. | a mental synthesis that becomes fixed or concrete by a process resembling crystal formation |
crystallization crys·tal·li·za·tion (krĭs'tə-lĭ-zā'shən)
n.
The formation of crystals or the assumption of a crystalline form.
crys'tal·lize' (-līz') v.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Crystallization
The act of selling and buying stocks almost instantaneously in order to increase or decrease book value. This is a routine method used by many investors and companies to change book values without changing beneficial ownership.
Investopedia Commentary
An example of this occurs when an investor needs to take a capital loss for a particular stock, but still believes the stock will rise. Thus, he/she would crystallize the paper loss by selling the stock and buying it back right away.
Most tax agencies have regulations (such as the wash-sale rule) to prevent taking a capital loss in this fashion.
Related Links
Selling Losing Securities for a Tax Advantage
Don't Put Off Your Year-End Plan
See also: Book Value, Capital Loss, Paper Profit (or Loss), Wash Sale, Wash-Sale Rule
Also spelled: crystalization
Crystallization
Crys`tal*li*za"tion\ (kr[i^]s`tal*l[i^]*z[=a]"sh[u^]n), n. [Cf. F. cristallization.]1. (Chem. & Min.) The act or process by which a substance in solidifying assumes the form and structure of a crystal, or becomes crystallized. 2. The body formed by crystallizing; as, silver on precipitation forms arborescent crystallizations. Note: The systems of crystallization are the several classes to which the forms are mathematically referable. They are most simply described according to the relative lengths and inclinations of certain assumed lines called axes; but the real distinction is the degree of symmetry characterizing them. 1. The Isometric, or Monometric, system has the axes all equal, as in the cube, octahedron, etc. 2. The Tetragonal, or Dimetric, system has a varying vertical axis, while the lateral are equal, as in the right square prism. 3. The Orthorhombic, or Trimetric, system has the three axes unequal, as in the rectangular and rhombic prism. In this system, the lateral axes are called, respectively, macrodiagonal and brachydiagonal. -- The preceding are erect forms, the axes intersecting at right angles. The following are oblique. 4. The Monoclinic system, having one of the intersections oblique, as in the oblique rhombic prism. In this system, the lateral axes are called respectively, clinodiagonal and orthodiagonal. 5. The Triclinic system, having all the three intersections oblique, as in the oblique rhomboidal prism. There is also: 6. The Hexagonal system (one division of which is called Rhombohedral), in which there are three equal lateral axes, and a vertical axis of variable length, as in the hexagonal prism and the rhombohedron. Note: The Diclinic system, sometimes recognized, with two oblique intersections, is only a variety of the Triclinic.
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