a. and sb. [f. Gr. κρύσταλλ-ος crystal + -OID.]
A. adj. Crystal-like, of crystalline form or character, esp. as contrasted with COLLOID (a. 2).
1862. H. Spencer, First Princ., II. xiii. § 103. Organic matter has the peculiarity that its molecules are aggregated into the colloid and not into the crystalloid arrangement.
1878. Gurney, Crystallogr., 29. In crystalloid forms occurring in nature the linear dimensions are subject to no known law.
B. sb.
1. A crystalloid or crystalline body or substance, as distinct from a COLLOID (sb. 2).
Crystalloids have, in solution, the power (which colloids have not) of passing easily through membranes.
1861. T. Graham, in Phil. Trans. (1862), 183. Opposed to the colloidal is the crystalline condition. Substances affecting the latter form will be classed as crystalloids.
1878. T. Bryant, Pract. Surg., I. 10. As freely as a colloid is penetrated by a crystalloid.
2. A protoplasmic body resembling a crystal in form, occurring in certain vegetable cells.
1875. Bennett & Dyer, trans. Sachs’ Bot., 50. The term Crystalloids [was] proposed by Nägeli…. Crystalloids containing colouring matters are found in the petals and fruits.
