spherulitic, a. Geol. and Min.
(sfɛr(j)ʊˈlɪtɪk)
Also sphærulitic, † spherolitic.
[f. prec. (sense 1) + -ic.]
1. Of rocks and other substances: Containing, or composed of, spherulites. Cf. spherulite 1 c.
| 1833–4 J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. VI. 761/1 That concretionary structure which reminds us of some kinds of obsidian and sphærulitic traps. 1863 Dana Man. Geol. §6. 88 Spherulitic obsidian. Contains small feldspathic concretions. 1889 Science-Gossip XXV. 216 Pitchstone (ordinary, banded, and spherulitic). 1893 [see spherulite 1 c]. 1975 Sci. Amer. Dec. 100/2 The microstructure of spherulitic polymers is also significantly affected by the phenomenon of secondary crystallization. |
2. Pertaining to, characteristic of, spherulites.
| 1829 Trans. Geol. Soc. II. 202 Even where no traces of spherolitic structure are visible, the ribboned arrangement of the rock is owing to the mass of matter having been drawn out in the direction of the zones while still liquid. 1878 Lawrence tr. Cotta's Rocks Class. 86 Spherulitic or Globuliferous. A texture so named, somewhat similar to the oolitic. 1879 Rutley Stud. Rocks xi. 184 Spherulitic structure is sometimes developed in artificial glass. 1945 Trans. Faraday Soc. XLI. 321 One of the clearest demonstrations of the spherulitic structure was provided by a specimen of polythene. 1962 F. W. Billmeyer Textbk. Polymer Sci. v. 149 The point of initiation of spherulitic growth, its nucleus, may be a foreign particle..or may arise spontaneously in the melt. |
3. Having the form or character of a spherulite.
| 1844 C. Darwin Geol. Observations of Volcanic Islands iii. 64 The little brown sphærulitic globules of the rocks of Ascension. 1888 Rutley Rock-Forming Min. 130 Sections passing through the centres of these spherulitic bodies. 1933 Bureau of Standards Jrnl. Res. (U.S.) X. 486 The appearance and properties of the spherulitic clusters did not depend upon the sample of ammoniated latex from which they had been prepared. |
Hence spheruˈlitically adv.
| 1975 Sci. Amer. Dec. 104/2 A spherulitically crystallized polymer. |