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.
The Greeks looked at crystal and thought it was ice that had achieved perfection — frozen so completely it could never melt again! Now we know crystals are nature's geometry teachers, showing us how atoms can arrange themselves into perfect, mathematical beauty. When we say something is crystalline, we're borrowing that same perfection — crystalline laughter, crystalline thinking, crystalline morning air. It's clarity with structure, beauty with precision!
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