Meanings
- not comparablechemistrydescribing a liquid crystal that exhibits phase transitions as a function of concentration
It is interesting to note that sulphates head one of Freundlich’s lyotropic series; but I fear that this is merely a coincidence.
1910, The British Journal of Photography,, volume 57, page 6311 more example
“We can however say that, with electrolytes, the effects are always lyotropic. Sulphates, tartrates, etc., raise the point of solidification, decrease the period of solidification, and increase the rate of change of the viscosity with the time. They therefore help the solidification.”
1910, The Journal of Physical Chemistry,, volume 14, pages 628–629
Origin
- Ancient Greekλύω“to loosen, to dissolve”
- Englishlyotropic
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”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lyotropic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lyotropic
“lyotropic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lyotropic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lyotropic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lyotropic.
Source: lyotropic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.