coordination compound
n (Chemistry) another name for
complex8 Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
com•plex
(adj., v. kəmˈplɛks, ˈkɒm plɛks; n. ˈkɒm plɛks)
adj. 1. composed of many interconnected parts; compound; composite: a complex system.
2. characterized by a complicated or involved arrangement of parts, units, etc.: complex machinery.
3. so complicated or intricate as to be hard to understand or deal with: a complex problem.
4. (of a word) consisting of two or more parts, at least one of which is a bound form, as childish, which consists of the word child and the bound form -ish.
5. pertaining to or using complex numbers: complex methods; complex vector space.
n. 6. an often intricate or complicated association or assemblage of related things, parts, units, etc., forming a whole: an apartment complex.
7. a cluster of interrelated, emotion-charged ideas, desires, and impulses that may be wholly or partly suppressed but influence attitudes, associations, and behavior.
8. an obsessive notion or concern.
9. Also called
coordination compound. a chemical compound in which independently existing molecules or ions of a nonmetal form coordinate bonds with a metal atom or ion.Compare
ligand (def. 2). 10. an entity composed of molecules in which the constituents maintain much of their chemical identity: receptor-hormone complex.
v.t. 11. Chem. to form a complex with.
v.i. 12. Chem. to form a complex.
[1645–55; (adj.) < Latin complexus, past participle of complectī, complectere to embrace, encompass, include]
com•plex′ly, adv.
com•plex′ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.