inorganic, a. and n.
(ɪnɔːˈgænɪk)
[f. in-3 + organic. Cf. F. inorganique, and next.]
A. adj.
1. a. Not characterized by having organs or members fitted for special functions; not formed with the organs or instruments of life, or with the organization peculiar to living beings; destitute of organized physical structure: said of inanimate matter and bodies formed of it without vital action.
inorganic world, inorganic nature, the material world outside the animal and vegetable kingdoms; the world of matter, with the mechanical and chemical forces to which it is subject.
| 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. 464 We may safely conclude that the mineral kingdom, that assemblage of brute inorganic bodies..has yet distinct families and species. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. Pref. 7 The inorganic matter that forms the Earth's surface. 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. i. (1814) 29 What can be more delightful than..to examine the progress of inorganic matter in its different processes of change? 1856 Dove Logic Chr. Faith iv. ii. §5. 221 In the inorganic world we observe action and re-action. 1889 A. R. Wallace Darwinism 17 There is a yet deadlier enemy in the forces of inorganic nature. |
b. Chem. Of elements, compounds, etc.: Not entering into the composition of organized bodies; not formed under the action of the vital forces.
| 1831 R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 2 In living bodies there are two kinds of elements, inorganic and organic. The inorganic elements are those which may be obtained by the processes of chemistry from minerals as well as organized bodies. 1832 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 628 Acids, in general, whether organic or inorganic..act upon sugar in the same manner when assisted by heat. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvi. i. (1872) VI. 137 Innumerable high-dressed gentlemen, gods of this lower world, are gone all to inorganic powder. 1877 Watts Fownes' Org. Chem. (ed. 12) 2 The division of compounds into two distinct branches, inorganic and organic,—formed..the latter only under the influence of a supposed vital force—must therefore be abandoned. |
c. inorganic chemistry, that branch of Chemistry which investigates inorganic compounds; the chemistry of mineral substances.
As all organized bodies contain carbon, organic chemistry is usually defined as ‘the chemistry of the carbon compounds’, while inorganic chemistry comprises that of all the other elements and their combinations.
| [182. T. Thomson (title), A System of Chemistry of Inorganic Bodies. Cited in Penny Cycl. (1837) VII. 31/2 as Inorganic Chemistry.] 1847 Craig s.v. Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, is that which investigates inorganic compounds. 1854 Orr's Circle Sc., Chem. 383 The limit separating inorganic from organic chemistry is purely conventional. |
2. Not furnished with or acting by bodily or material organs; = inorganical 1.
| 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 135 Speak Spirit! from thine inorganic voice I only know that thou art moving near And love. 1830 Mackintosh Prog. Eth. Philos. Wks. 1846 I. 161 The theory in its full extent requires a word such as ‘inorganic’ (if no better can be discovered), extending to all gratification not distinctly referred to some specific organ, or at least to some assignable part of the bodily frame. |
3. a. Not belonging or proper to the organism or structure; that does not arise by natural growth; extraneous.
| 1862 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) III. xxviii. 325 The vitality of European intellect would have thrown off the yoke of an inorganic and alien despotism. 1880 C. E. Norton Church Build. Mid. Ages 229 note, The forms of the highly ornamented gables are curiously inorganic. |
b. Philol.
| 1861 Max Müller Sc. Lang. 322 These languages will hardly ever agree in what is anomalous or inorganic. 1875 Whitney Life Lang. v. 93 It all grew out of an inorganic extension of such constructions. Ibid. vii. 127 Such a distinction [as that of rēad, rĕad, lēad, lĕd, etc.] is wont to be termed ‘inorganic’, as distinguished from one like loved from love, which answers just the purpose for which it was at first intended. Mod. Feminine words which in Old English ended in a consonant often took in Middle English an inorganic -e (derived from the oblique cases), as in OE. gódnes, ME. gōdnesse, and all nouns in -nes. |
c. Path. inorganic murmur: see quot.
| 1884 Cassell's Encycl. Dict., Inorganic cardiac-murmur. 1891 Syd. Soc. Lex. s.v. Murmur, Inorganic Murmurs, abnormal or superadded heart-sounds which are not due to disease of the heart substance, such as hæmic murmurs. Inorganic murmurs are also said to be due to the irregular action of the musculi papillares in the left ventricle [etc.]. |
4. Without organization or systematic arrangement.
| 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. ii. x, That inorganic waste whirlpool. |
B. n. An inorganic chemical.
| 1945 Chem. & Engin. News 10 Jan. 103 We offer: inorganics—gallium, germanium, indium metals & salts in quantity. 1968 New Scientist 23 May 391/1 The production of inorganics was complemented by the equally distinct manufacture of organic chemicals. 1971 Nature 31 Dec. 515/1 Plastics increased in volume by 16·8 per cent a year; basic organics by 13·7 per cent and inorganics by 6·1 per cent. |