isomorphism

[ ahy-suh-mawr-fiz-uhm ]

noun
  1. the state or property of being isomorphous or isomorphic.

  2. Mathematics. a one-to-one relation onto the map between two sets, which preserves the relations existing between elements in its domain.

Origin of isomorphism

1
First recorded in 1820–30; isomorph(ous) + -ism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for isomorphism

isomorphism

/ (ˌaɪsəʊˈmɔːfɪzəm) /


noun
  1. biology similarity of form, as in different generations of the same life cycle

  2. chem the existence of two or more substances of different composition in a similar crystalline form

  1. maths a one-to-one correspondence between the elements of two or more sets, such as those of Arabic and Roman numerals, and between the sums or products of the elements of one of these sets and those of the equivalent elements of the other set or sets

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for isomorphism

isomorphism

[ ī′sə-môrfĭz′əm ]


  1. Similarity in form, as in organisms of different ancestry.

  2. A one-to-one correspondence between the elements of two sets such that the result of an operation on elements of one set corresponds to the result of the analogous operation on their images in the other set.

  1. A close similarity in the crystalline structure of two or more substances of different chemical composition. Isomorphism is seen, for example, in the group of minerals known as garnets, which can vary in chemical composition but always have the same crystal structure.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.