granular

From granule +‎ -ar. Compare French granulaire.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹæn.jə.lə(ɹ)/

granular (comparative more granular, superlative most granular)

1. Consisting of, or resembling, granules or grains

   a granular substance

2. grainy

   It has a granular structure

   • 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...

• 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,[1] like a grainier or "more granular" photograph with larger and thus more visible grains.[2] In other cases, "more granular" indicates finer, more plentiful grains or divisions.[3] For clarity, one can refer specifically to finer or coarser granularity.

• granulous; see also Thesaurus:granular

• granularity

• coarse-grained
• fine-grained
• grain
• granulate
• granulation
• granule

• granular in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• granular in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Merriam-Webster OnLine 2008

granular (not comparable)

1. granular (in the shape of grains)

granular (plural granulares)

1. granular

granular (first-person singular present granulo, first-person singular preterite granulé, past participle granulado)

1. to granulate