Meaning & use
non-homogeneity
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Meaning
noununcountabletechnicalformal
The state of not being uniform or the same throughout; lack of evenness or consistency.
Grammar: Uncountable: the non-homogeneity of the sample. It is not usually used with 'a' or in the plural.
Patterns
- the non-homogeneity of something
- non-homogeneity in something
The non-homogeneity of the soil made it difficult to grow crops evenly.
Researchers noted the non-homogeneity of the data across different regions.
The non-homogeneity of the mixture caused inconsistent results.
Common combinations
- non-homogeneity of the sample
- The non-homogeneity of the sample affected the test results.
- non-homogeneity in the data
- There is clear non-homogeneity in the data from different years.
- degree of non-homogeneity
- The degree of non-homogeneity was higher than expected.
Synonyms and how they differ
- heterogeneity
- A more common technical term meaning a mix of different things; non-homogeneity emphasizes the lack of sameness.
- variation
- Everyday word for differences; less formal than non-homogeneity.
- unevenness
- Plain word for not being level or consistent; not used in academic writing as much.
Opposites
Word family
- homogeneity noun
- The state of being uniform or the same throughout.
- homogeneous adjective
- Consisting of parts that are all the same.
- non-homogeneous adjective
- Not uniform; not the same throughout.
Commonly confused: non-homogeneity or non-homogenity?
non-homogeneity vs non-homogenity
A common misspelling. The correct spelling ends in '-geneity', like 'homogeneity'.
Practice
The ______ of the rock layers made it hard to predict where water would flow.
Choose one answer.
We need a noun after 'the', so 'non-homogeneity' fits. 'Non-homogeneous' is an adjective, 'non-homogeneously' is an adverb, and 'homogeneity' means the opposite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “non-homogeneity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.