Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having assumed the form of crystals: as, crystallized saltpeter or crystallized alum.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective smoothly coated with crystals of sugar; -- used especially of fruits.
  • adjective caused to form into crystals; hence, in a crystalline form.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective having definitive and fixed form, solidified.
  • adjective being crystalline, in the form of crystals.
  • verb Simple past tense and past participle of crystallize.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having both internal structure and external form of a crystal
  • adjective having become fixed and definite in form

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The proposal to erase the word crystallized opposition to the remaking of DSM-III.

    MANUFACTURING DEPRESSION Gary Greenberg 2010

  • But again the term crystallized as a specific literary slogan only in France.

    REALISM IN LITERATURE REN 1968

  • • Mix in crystallized ginger and grated ginger -- with a fork, making sure the fresh ginger does not clump.

    recipe: Gluten-free vegan soft chai-spice cookies of DOOM shweta_narayan 2010

  • He isn't quite sure when the meaning of the phrase crystallized into the act of "summarily and decisively rejecting someone."

    ‘Under the Bus’ 2008

  • Stir in crystallized ginger, scrape into prepared pan.

    Archive 2005-12-01 2005

  • Stir in crystallized ginger, scrape into prepared pan.

    Chewy Double Ginger Squares 2005

  • Organizationally, in political and military terms, we were too weak to take advantage of the situation that crystallized from the first events of 16 June 1976.

    'I Saw a Nightmare …' Doing Violence to Memory: The Soweto Uprising, June 16, 1976 2005

  • As the idea crystallized I told it excitedly to my then girlfriend we were into the second month of a thirteen month round-the-world trip together, sharing everything.

    Frankenstein's Monster, by Igor Editorial Anonymous 2008

  • As the idea crystallized I told it excitedly to my then girlfriend we were into the second month of a thirteen month round-the-world trip together, sharing everything.

    Archive 2008-10-01 Editorial Anonymous 2008

  • Or perhaps the idea crystallized when he asked to see some of their native dances, and within an hour the dancers assembled on his lawn -- five hundred of them -- and performed until sundown.

    The Worshippers Damon Francis Knight 1962

  • A potential answer lies in the work of the British psychologist Raymond Cattell, who in the early 1940s introduced the concepts of fluid and crystallized intelligence. Cattell defined fluid intelligence as the ability to reason, analyze, and solve novel problems—what we commonly think of as raw intellectual horsepower. Innovators typically have an abundance of fluid intelligence. It is highest relatively early in adulthood and diminishes starting in one’s 30s and 40s. This is why tech entrepreneurs, for instance, do so well so early, and why older people have a much harder time innovating.Crystallized intelligence, in contrast, is the ability to use knowledge gained in the past. Think of it as possessing a vast library and understanding how to use it. It is the essence of wisdom. Because crystallized intelligence relies on an accumulating stock of knowledge, it tends to increase through one’s 40s, and does not diminish until very late in life.Careers that rely primarily on fluid intelligence tend to peak early, while those that use more crystallized intelligence peak later. For example, Dean Keith Simonton has found that poets—highly fluid in their creativity—tend to have produced half their lifetime creative output by age 40 or so. Historians—who rely on a crystallized stock of knowledge—don’t reach this milestone until about 60.

    Your Professional Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think Arthur C. Brooks 2022

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