Dimorphism

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dimorphism \Di*mor"phism\, n. [Cf. F. dimorphisme.]
     1. (Biol.) Difference of form between members of the same
        species, as when a plant has two kinds of flowers, both
        hermaphrodite (as in the partridge berry), or when there
        are two forms of one or both sexes of the same species of
        butterfly.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              Dimorphism is the condition of the appearance of the
              same species under two dissimilar forms. --Darwin.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Crystallog.) Crystallization in two independent forms of
        the same chemical compound, as of calcium carbonate as
        calcite and aragonite.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  dimorphism
       n 1: (chemistry) the property of certain substances that enables
            them to exist in two distinct crystalline forms
       2: (biology) the existence of two forms of individual within
          the same animal species (independent of sex differences)