amorphous - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: amorphous

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry:	amorphous
Part of Speech:	adj
Definition:	See amorphic

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
amorphous

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

a·mor·phous

Audio Help [uh-mawr-fuh

s] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	lacking definite form; having no specific shape; formless: the amorphous clouds.

2.	of no particular kind or character; indeterminate; having no pattern or structure; unorganized: an amorphous style; an amorphous personality.

3.	Petrography, Mineralogy. occurring in a mass, as without stratification or crystalline structure.

4.	Chemistry. not crystalline.

5.	Biology. having structural components that are not clearly differentiated, as the nuclear material in certain bacteria.

[Origin: 1725–35; < Gk ámorphos shapeless. See a-⁶, -morph, -ous

]

—Related forms

a·mor·phous·ly, adverb

a·mor·phous·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1, 2. shapeless, undefined; vague, anomalous.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

a·mor·phous Audio Help (ə-môr'fəs) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Lacking definite form; shapeless. See Synonyms at shapeless.
Of no particular type; anomalous.
Lacking organization; formless.
Lacking distinct crystalline structure.

[From Greek amorphos : a-, without; see a-¹ + morphē, shape.]

a·mor'phous·ly adv., a·mor'phous·ness n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
amorphous

"shapeless," 1731, from Gk. amorphos "without form, shapeless, deformed," from a- "without" + morphe "form" (see morphine).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

amorphous
adjective
1.	having no definite form or distinct shape; "amorphous clouds of insects"; "an aggregate of formless particles"; "a shapeless mass of protoplasm"
2.	lacking the system or structure characteristic of living bodies
3.	without real or apparent crystalline form; "an amorphous mineral"; "amorphous structure"

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

amorphous Audio Help (ə-môr'fəs) Pronunciation Key

Not made of crystals. Glass, amber, and plastics are amorphous substances.
Lacking definite form or shape.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Amorphous

A*mor"phism\, n. [See Amorphous.] A state of being amorphous; esp. a state of being without crystallization even in the minutest particles, as in glass, opal, etc.

Note: There are stony substances which, when fused, may cool as glass or as stone; the glass state is spoken of as a state of amorphism.

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