conformer

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person who follows prevailing rules, customs, or opinions rather than acting independently

   The institution rewarded the quiet conformer more readily than the outspoken reformer.

2. 2
   noun

   chemistry: one of the distinguishable spatial arrangements that a molecule can adopt by rotation about single bonds

   The lower-energy conformer predominates when the sample reaches equilibrium.

In the social sense, formed from conform + -er: one who conforms. Conform came through Old French from Latin conformare, 'shape alike,' from con-, 'together,' + forma, 'form.' The chemistry sense is a shortening of conformational isomer and names a molecular arrangement rather than a person.

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