orthorhombic, a. Cryst.
(ɔːθəʊˈrɒmbɪk)
[f. ortho- ‘right’ + rhombic.]
Applied to that system of crystalline forms in which the three axes are mutually at right angles and unequal; also called rectangular, prismatic, trimetric, or orthosymmetric.
| 1868 Dana Min. Introd. (ed. 5) 25. 1878 Gurney Crystallogr. 37 There may be three planes of symmetry at right angles. Such crystals belong to the Orthorhombic System. 1880 E. Cleminshaw Wurtz' Atom. Th. 56 The orthorhombic sulphates of magnesia, zinc, and nickel. |