Meanings
plural microviscosities
- countableuncountableThe friction experienced by a single particle undergoing diffusion because of its interaction with its environment at the micrometer length scale.
Both the crowding density and relative size of each co-solute in a mixture will contribute to the measured microviscosity as assessed by altered translational mobility.
2008, Goins, A.B., H. Sanabria, M. N. Waxham, "Macromolecular crowding and size effects on probe microviscosity", Biophysics Journal 95:5362-53731 more example
The friction experienced by a single particle can be thought of as a microscopic viscosity (microviscosity) and should not necessarily agree with the bulk viscosity since it is a measure of the probe's local friction whereas bulk viscosity analogously would be the measure of an infinitely large probe.
2008, Aron Benjamin Goins, Crowding and size effects on probe microviscosity for polymer cytosolic mimicrySynonyms: microscopic viscosity
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe friction experienced by a single particle undergoing diffusion because of its interaction with its environment at the micrometer length scale.
Origin
Cite this entry
microviscosity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microviscosity
“microviscosity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microviscosity. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “microviscosity,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microviscosity.
Source: microviscosity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.