Isomorphism

Pronunciation

Origin

- + morphism + -

Full definition of isomorphism

Noun

1. Similarity of form
• 1984 Brigitte Asbach-Schnitker, "Introduction", Mercury or The Secret and Swift Messenger, ISBN 9027232768.The postulated isomorphism between words and things constitutes the characterizing feature of all philosophically based universal languages.

1. (biology) the similarity in form of organisms of different ancestry
2. (chemistry) the similarity in the crystal structures of similar chemical compounds
• 1874 C. Rammelsberg, "Crystallographic and chemical relations of the natural sulphides, arsenides, and sulpharsenides", The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science, page 197.The isomorphism of compounds does not prove the isomorphism of their respective constituents.
3. (sociology) the similarity in the structure or processes of different organizations

1. (group algebra) A bijection f such that both f and its inverse f ⁻¹ are homomorphisms, that is, structure-preserving mappings.
2. (computer science) a one-to-one correspondence between all the elements of two sets, e.g. the instances of two classes, or the records in two datasets
3. (category theory) A morphism which has an inverse; the composition of the morphism and its inverse yields either one of two identity morphisms (depending on the order of composition).

Abbreviations

• (in category theory) iso

Related terms

• isomorphic
• isomorphous