glide plane

noun

, Crystallography.

1. a symmetry element of a space group such that a reflection of the lattice with respect to the plane and a translation of the lattice parallel to the plane bring the lattice back to its original position.

Word History and Origins

Origin of glide plane¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

This plane, which truncates the edge of the rhombohedron and has the indices , is called a “glide-plane.”

From Project Gutenberg