anisotropic (anisotropik)

[As an i so trope +-ic.] 1. Not having properties all directions; not isotropic; colotropic. All crystals except those of the isometric system are anisotropic with respect to light. Starch grains behave like double refracting crystals, and we a ume, therefore, that they consist of... anisotropic substances. Behrens, Micros. in Botany (trans.), p. 360. 2. In bot., a term applied by Sachs to organs which respond differently or unequally to external influences. Equivalent forms are anisotropal , an i so trope , and an isotropous . an isotropous (an-i-sot'ro-pus), a. Same as anisotropic. An isotropous disk. See striated muscle, under striated. anisotropy