heterogeneous

English

WOTD – 26 January 2012

Etymology

From Medieval Latin heterogeneus, from Ancient Greek ἑτερογενής (heterogenḗs, “of different kinds”), from ἕτερος (héteros, “other, another, different”) + γένος (génos, “kind”). Compare hetero- and -ous.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌhɛt.(ə.)ɹəˈd͡ʒiː.nɪəs/, /ˌhɛt.(ə)ˈɹɒd͡ʒ.ə.nəs/, /ˌhɛt.(ə.)ɹəʊˈd͡ʒiː.nɪəs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌhɛt.(ə.)ɹəˈd͡ʒiː.ni.əs/, /ˌhɛt.(ə)ˈɹɑd͡ʒ.ə.nəs/, /ˌhɛt.(ə.)ɹoʊˈd͡ʒiː.ni.əs/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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Adjective

heterogeneous (comparative more heterogeneous, superlative most heterogeneous)

1. Diverse in kind or nature; composed of diverse parts.

   He had a large and heterogeneous collection of books.

   • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 6, in The Whisperer in Darkness:

     With a vague curiosity I began to trace the outline of some of the heterogeneous impressions, trying meanwhile to curb the flights of macabre fancy which the place and its memories suggested.

2. (mathematics) Incommensurable because of different kinds.
3. (physics, chemistry) Having more than one phase (solid, liquid, gas) present in a system or process.
4. (chemistry) Visibly consisting of different components.
5. (computing) Of a network comprising different types of computers, potentially with vastly differing memory sizes, processing power and even basic underlying architecture; alternatively, of a data resource with multiple types of formats.

Synonyms

• (composed of diverse parts, or coming from diverse sources): heterologous, diverse, manifold; See also Thesaurus:heterogeneous

Antonyms

• homogeneous

Derived terms

• heterogeneous equilibrium

Related terms

• heterogene
• heterogeneal
• heterogeneity
• heterogeneously
• heterogeneous mixture, heterogeneous catalysis
• heterogeneousness
• heterogenous

 

Translations

diverse in kind

• Albanian: heterogjen (sq), i tjetërllojshëm
• Azerbaijani: qarışıq
• Bulgarian: разнороден (bg) (raznoroden)
• Catalan: heterogeni (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 異質／异质 (zh) (yìzhì)

• Czech: heterogenní, různorodý
• Dutch: heterogeen (nl), heterogene (nl)
• Finnish: epäyhtenäinen (fi), sekalainen (fi), heterogeeninen (fi)
• French: hétérogène (fr)
• Galician: heteroxéneo (gl)
• German: heterogen (de)
• Greek: ετερογενής (el) (eterogenís)
• Hungarian: heterogén (hu)
• Indonesian: heterogen (id)
• Irish: ilchineálach, ilghnéitheach
• Italian: eterogeneo (it)
• Kazakh: гетерогенді (geterogendı), гетерогендік (geterogendık), әртекті (ärtektı), біртекті емес (bırtektı emes), біртексіз (bırteksız)
• Latin: heterogeneus
• Manx: yl-chynnoil, yl-cheintagh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: heterogen

  Nynorsk: heterogen

• Polish: heterogeniczny (pl), niejednorodny (pl)
• Portuguese: heterogêneo (pt)
• Romanian: eterogen (ro), neuniform
• Russian: неодноро́дный (ru) (neodnoródnyj), гетероге́нный (ru) (geterogénnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: iol-ghnèitheach
• Spanish: heterogéneo (es)
• Swedish: heterogen (sv)
• Telugu: విజాతి (te) (vijāti), విభిన్న (te) (vibhinna)

mathematics: incommensurable

• Finnish: heterogeeninen (fi)

physics: having more than one phase

• Azerbaijani: qarışıq
• Finnish: heterogeeninen (fi)
• Romanian: eterogen (ro)
• Tagalog: dam-uriin

chemistry: visibly consisting of different components

• Bulgarian: хетерогенен (bg) (heterogenen)
• Finnish: heterogeeninen (fi)
• Tagalog: dam-uriin

computing: comprising different types of computers or formats

• Finnish: heterogeeninen (fi)

Further reading

• “heterogeneous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “heterogeneous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “heterogeneous”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.