Clear and transparent like crystal; having a structure of perfect geometric precision. Also describing sounds or thoughts that ring with bell-like clarity and purity.
From Greek krystallos, originally meaning 'ice' — the Greeks thought crystal was ice so perfectly frozen it could never melt. Latin crystallum carried this icy clarity into the word crystallinus. The geometric perfection of crystal structure gave us metaphors for anything perfectly clear — crystalline water, crystalline logic, crystalline sound.
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