granular

== English == === Etymology === From Late Latin grānulum (“granule, little grain”), diminutive of Latin grānum (“grain, seed”), + -ar. By surface analysis, granule +‎ -ar. Compare French granulaire. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɡɹæn.jə.lə(ɹ)/ === Adjective === granular (comparative more granular, superlative most granular) Consisting of, or resembling, granules or grains. a granular substance Grainy. 1790, Abraham Mills, Some Strata in Ireland and Scotland, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 80 This Whyn Dyke is bare at the cliffs ſeveral yards in height, and is near nine feet in width. It conſiſts of an inner part of a granular and ſomewhat porous texture... (transferred sense) Refined or precise. ==== Usage notes ==== It is common to speak of things being "more granular" or "less granular", but this is potentially confusing: something "granular" is composed of small, discrete entities as opposed to being continuous, which is primarily a binary distinction, not a matter of degree. Moreover, it is unclear if "more granular" and "less granular" indicate finer or coarser granularity. For example, granular sugar is so called because it consists of relatively large grains, in contrast with powdered sugar, so "more granular" sugar might be coarser, like a grainier or "more granular" photograph with larger and thus more visible grains. In other cases, "more granular" indicates finer, more plentiful grains or divisions. For clarity, one can refer specifically to finer or coarser granularity. In the superlative, one may refer to finest or coarsest granularity. ==== Synonyms ==== granulous; see also Thesaurus:granular ==== Coordinate terms ==== particulate (adjective) ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== coarse-grained fine-grained grain, granulate, granulation, granule ==== Translations ==== ==== References ==== “granular”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “granular”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. “granular”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present. == Catalan == === Etymology 1 === From grànul +‎ -ar. ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): (Central) [ɡɾə.nuˈlar] IPA(key): (Balearic) [ɡɾə.nuˈla] IPA(key): (Valencia) [ɡɾa.nuˈlaɾ] ==== Adjective ==== granular m or f (masculine and feminine plural granulars) granular === Etymology 2 === From grànul +‎ -ar. ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): (Central, Balearic) [ɡɾə.nuˈla] IPA(key): (Valencia) [ɡɾa.nuˈlaɾ] ==== Verb ==== granular (first-person singular present granulo, first-person singular preterite granulí, past participle granulat) (transitive) to granulate ===== Conjugation ===== === Further reading === “granular”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007 == Interlingua == === Adjective === granular (not comparable) granular (in the shape of grains) == Romanian == === Etymology === Borrowed from French granulaire. === Adjective === granular m or n (feminine singular granulară, masculine plural granulari, feminine/neuter plural granulare) granular ==== Declension ==== == Spanish == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɡɾanuˈlaɾ/ [ɡɾa.nuˈlaɾ] Rhymes: -aɾ Syllabification: gra‧nu‧lar === Adjective === granular m or f (masculine and feminine plural granulares) granular Synonym: granuloso === Verb === granular (first-person singular present granulo, first-person singular preterite granulé, past participle granulado) (transitive) to granulate ==== Conjugation ==== === Further reading === “granular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025