What is "amorphism"

Amorphism \A*mor"phism\, n. [See Amorphous.] A state of being amorphous; esp. a state of being without crystallization even in the minutest particles, as in glass, opal, etc.

Note: There are stony substances which, when fused, may cool as glass or as stone; the glass state is spoken of as a state of amorphism.

n. An amorphous quality.

An Amorphism, in chemistry, crystallography and, by extension, to other areas of the natural sciences is a substance or feature that lacks an ordered form. In the specific case of crystallography, an amorphic material is one that lacks long range (significant) crystalline order at the molecular level. In the history of chemistry, amorphism was recognised even before the discovery of the nature of the exact atomic crystalline lattice structure. The concept of amorphism can also be found in the fields of art, biology, archaeology and philosophy as a characterisation of objects without form, or with random or unstructured form.