Wiktionary

isomorphic

English

edit
WOTD – 6 November 2013

Etymology

edit

From iso- ‎ -morphic.

Pronunciation

edit

Adjective

edit

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

edit
  • 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

edit

Coordinate terms

edit

Derived terms

edit
edit

Translations

edit

Further reading

edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=isomorphic&oldid=80547625"