Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The quality of being anisotropic.
  • noun In embryology, the condition of having the axes predetermined: applied to certain differentiated animal ova: opposed to isotropy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The property of being directionally dependent.
  • noun The degree to which this property is exhibited.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the property of being anisotropic; having a different value when measured in different directions

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

aniso- + -tropy

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Examples

  • Quantum uncertainty fluctuations in the field coupled with local regions of curvature, where this reheating had some measure of inhomogeneity, or as observed from a central location an anisotropy, that is frozen out in what we observe now.

    Universe to WMAP: ΛCDM Rules, OK? | Universe Today 2010

  • We show that the CuO chains of the orthorhombic lattice are not responsible for this anisotropy, which is therefore an intrinsic property of the CuO2 planes.

    Next Big Future bw 2010

  • In a paper published earlier this month in The Astrophysical Journal they confirmed that more cosmic rays seem to come from certain directions-an observation known as anisotropy-in the Earth's southern hemisphere too.

    Discover Blogs 2010

  • You are overlooking something huge, namely the anisotropy of both wood and CF composites.

    Mandolin Cafe News 2009

  • COBE also had the task of seeking small variations of temperature in different directions (which is what the term 'anisotropy' refers to).

    Press Release: The 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics 2006

  • This phenomenon is called "anisotropy" and it has already been observed from the Northern Hemisphere by previous experiments.

    Softpedia News - Global 2010

  • "anisotropy," has been seen from the Northern Hemisphere by previous experiments, she says, but its source is still a mystery.

    Space News From SpaceDaily.Com 2010

  • "anisotropy," has been seen from the Northern Hemisphere by previous experiments, she says, but its source is still a mystery.

    RedOrbit News - Technology 2010

  • And we found with 11 hours of practice over about a month, IBMT changed the white matter connectivity as measured by fractional anisotropy, the diffusion of water along the pathway ...

    Meditation For A Stronger Brain 2010

  • And we found with 11 hours of practice over about a month, IBMT changed the white matter connectivity as measured by fractional anisotropy, the diffusion of water along the pathway ...

    Meditation For A Stronger Brain 2010

Comments

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  • A wonderfully understandable article on the age of the universe as determined by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe is available here.

    March 7, 2008

  • According to Wikipedia, anisotropy is "the property of being directionally dependent, as opposed to isotropy, which implies identical properties in all directions. It can be defined as a difference, when measured along different axes, in a material's physical or mechanical properties (absorbance, refractive index, conductivity, tensile strength, etc.) An example of anisotropy is the light coming through a polarizer. An example of an anisotropic material is wood, which is easier to split along its grain than against it." (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anisotropy&oldid=467363140)

    January 6, 2012

  • The comment by ruzuzu got me thinking of petrology, and that the mineral fabric of rocks is commonly anisotropic. Then Wordnik's very useful reverse dictionary gave me bianisotropy, which led me to bianisotropic.

    January 6, 2012