liquid crystal


noun

a liquid having certain crystalline characteristics, especially different optical properties in different directions when exposed to an electric field.

Origin of liquid crystal

First recorded in 1890–95

British Dictionary definitions for liquid crystal

liquid crystal

noun

a liquid that has some crystalline characteristics, such as the presence of different optical properties in different directions; a substance in a mesomorphic state See also smectic, nematic

Scientific definitions for liquid crystal

liquid crystal

Any of various liquids in which molecules are regularly arrayed like a solid crystal along one or two dimensions, but are free in the other dimensions as with typical liquids. Liquid crystals often display unusual and often manipulable optical properties such as anisotropic scattering. See more at LCD.