A detailed knowledge of the terminology and its background is necessary for a fundamental understanding of professional literature. This sharply focused, authoritative lexicon affords the reader a coherent idea of microstructure formation and evolution. All the term definitions are supplied with explanations and cross-references that offer a consistent picture of microstructure in metallic and non-metallic polycrystalline materials. With a depth and wealth of information not usually found in other materials science dictionaries, it contains more than 1400 terms used in modern research and practice. In addition, all the entries from the dictionary are presented in the English-German/German-English Glossary, reflecting the large number of materials science literature published in German.