lyotropic

Meanings

1. describing a liquid crystal that exhibits phase transitions as a function of concentration

Etymology

From lyo- + -tropic, c. 1910, presumably borrowed from German, or by analogy with earlier lyo- terms such as lyophilic or lyophilization (1894). From Ancient Greek λύω (lúō, “to loosen, to dissolve”) + τροπικός (tropikós, “of or pertaining to a turn or change; or the solstice; or a trope or figure; tropic; tropical; etc.”), from τροπή (tropḗ, “turn; solstice; trope”).