*orphism*

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. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; again + morfh` form. ] 1. A distorted image. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) A gradual progression from one type to another, generally ascending. Huxley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; of human form; 'a`nqrwpos man + morfh` form. ] 1. The representation of the Deity, or of a polytheistic deity, under a human form, or with human attributes and affections. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The ascription of human characteristics to things not human. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Automorphic characterization. H. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. dimorphisme. ] 1. (Biol.) Difference of form between members of the same species, as when a plant has two kinds of flowers, both hermaphrodite (as in the partridge berry), or when there are two forms of one or both sexes of the same species of butterfly. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dimorphism is the condition of the appearance of the same species under two dissimilar forms. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Crystallog.) Crystallization in two independent forms of the same chemical compound, as of calcium carbonate as calcite and aragonite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; marriage + morfh` form, shape. ] (Biol.) That stage of growth or development in an organism, in which the reproductive elements are generated and matured in preparation for propagating the species. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. gynh` a woman, female + 'anh`r, 'andro`s, a man, male + morfh` form. ] (Zool.) An abnormal condition of certain animals, in which one side has the external characters of the male, and the other those of the female. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. (Biol.) The state or quality of being heteromorphic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Homœomorphous. ] A near similarity of crystalline forms between unlike chemical compounds. See Isomorphism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Homomorphous. ] 1. (Biol.) Same as Homomorphy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) The possession, in one species of plants, of only one kind of flowers; -- opposed to heteromorphism, dimorphism, and trimorphism. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) The possession of but one kind of larvæ or young, as in most insects.

[ 1913 Webster ]

n. Isomorphism between the two forms severally of two dimorphous substances. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Isomer + Gr. morfh` form + -ism. ] (Crystallog.) Isomorphism between substances that are isomeric.

n. [ Cf. F. isomorphisme. ] 1. (Crystallog.) A similarity of crystalline form between substances of similar composition, as between the sulphates of barium (BaSO4) and strontium (SrSO4). It is sometimes extended to include similarity of form between substances of unlike composition, which is more properly called homœomorphism.

2. (Math.) A one-to-one mapping of one set onto another set which preserves the relations between the elements of the domains of the sets. [ PJC ]

n. [ Iso- + Gr. &unr_; thrice + morfh` form. ] Isomorphism between the three forms, severally, of two trimorphous substances. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Geol.) The state or quality of being metamorphic; the process by which the material of rock masses has been more or less recrystallized by heat, pressure, etc., as in the change of sedimentary limestone to marble. Murchison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Min.) The change of one mineral species to another, so as to involve a change in physical characters without alteration of chemical composition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; more + morfh` form. ] 1. (Crystallog.) The property of crystallizing under two or more distinct fundamental forms, including dimorphism and trimorphism. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) The theory that the various genera of bacteria are phases or variations of growth of a number of Protean species, each of which may exhibit, according to undetermined conditions, all or some of the forms characteristic of the different genera and species. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; near + morfh` form. ] (Crystallog.) The property possessed by some substances of crystallizing in closely similar forms while unlike in chemical composition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Crystallog.) Same as Pleomorphism. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) (a) The capability of assuming different forms; the capability of widely varying in form. (b) Existence in many forms; the coexistence, in the same locality, of two or more distinct forms independent of sex, not connected by intermediate gradations, but produced from common parents. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Crystallog.) The state of having, or the property of taking, a crystalline form unlike that which belongs to the species. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Trimorphic. ] 1. (Crystallog.) The property of crystallizing in three forms fundamentally distinct, as is the case with titanium dioxide, which crystallizes in the forms of rutile, octahedrite, and brookite. See Pleomorphism. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) The coexistence among individuals of the same species of three distinct forms, not connected, as a rule, by intermediate gradations; the condition among individuals of the same species of having three different shapes or proportions of corresponding parts; -- contrasted with polymorphism, and dimorphism. [ 1913 Webster ]

Heterogonous trimporphism (Bot.), that condition in which flowers of plants of the same species have three different lengths of stamens, short, medium, and long, the blossoms of one individual plant having short and medium stamens and a long style, those of another having short and long stamens and a style of medium length, and those of a third having medium and long stamens and a short style, the style of each blossom thus being of a length not represented by its stamens. [ 1913 Webster ]