Wiktionary

isomorphic

English

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WOTD – 6 November 2013

Etymology

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From iso- +‎ -morphic.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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isomorphic (not comparable)

  1. (mathematics) Related by an isomorphism; having a structure-preserving one-to-one correspondence.
    • 2003, Bernd Siegfried Walter Schröder, Ordered Sets: An Introduction, page 254:
      Let A, B be the ordered sets in Figure 10.3. Let C be the direct product of infinitely many copies of the two element chain 2. Then AC is isomorphic to BC, but A is not isomorphic to B.
  2. (biology) Having a similar structure or function to something that is not related genetically or through evolution.
    • 1993, Marcus Jacobson, Foundations of Neuroscience, page 106:
      The fact that different structures can be shown to be functionally isomorphic implies that they are analogous, not homologous.
  3. Having identical relevant structure; being structure-preserving while undergoing certain invertible transformations.
    • 1981, John Lyons, Language and Linguistics: An Introduction, page 60:
      For example, in so far as written and spoken English are isomorphic (i.e. have the same structure), they are the same language: there is nothing but their structure that they have in common.

Usage notes

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  • In mathematics, this adjective can be used in phrases like "A and B are isomorphic", "A is isomorphic to B", and, less commonly, "A is isomorphic with B".

Antonyms

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Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Further reading

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