SMECTIC

[smec.tic] adj [L smecticus cleansing, having the properties of soap, fr. Gk smektikos, fr. smechein to clean] (1923): of, relating to, or being the phase of a liquid crystal characterized by arrangement of molecules in layers with the long molecular axes in a given layer being parallel to one another and those of other layers and perpendicular or slightly inclined to the plane of the layer--compare cholesteric, nematic