colloidal

American  

[kuh-loid-l] / kəˈlɔɪd l /

adjective

Physical Chemistry.

1. pertaining to or of the nature of a colloid.

   colloidal gold and silver.

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colloidal British  

/ ˌkɒˈlɔɪdəl, ˌkɒlɔɪˈdælɪtɪ /

adjective

1. of, denoting, or having the character of a colloid

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Other Word Forms

• colloidality noun
• colloidally adverb
• noncolloidal adjective
• semicolloidal adjective

Etymology

Origin of colloidal

First recorded in 1860–65; colloid + -al ¹

Example Sentences

They can determine where crystallization occurs, reshape and "sculpt" the structures, and enhance their uniformity and size to create larger and more intricate colloidal assemblies.

From Science Daily • Mar. 2, 2026

Physicists at Leipzig University have now created a type of neural network that works not with electricity but with so-called active colloidal particles.

From Science Daily • Jan. 29, 2024

Secondly, flexible DNA provides additional degrees of freedom in the assembly of non-space-filling polyhedral nanoparticles, leading to the creation of complex crystals with symmetries not previously achievable with colloidal crystal engineering with DNA.

From Science Daily • Jan. 18, 2024

Thanks to the docuseries, colloidal silver has materialized in popular culture once again, but it’s not the first time.

From Salon • Jan. 7, 2024

Coagulation therefore would seem to be merely the colloidal precipitation of a salt of calcium.

From The Mechanism of Life by Leduc, Stéphane