In
crystallography, the
trigonal crystal system is one of the seven
crystal systems. Sometimes the term
rhombohedral lattice system is used as an exact synonym, whereas it is a subset. Crystals in the rhombohedral lattice system are always in the trigonal crystal system, but some crystals such as
quartz are in the trigonal crystal system but not in the rhombohedral lattice system. The rhombohedral lattice system consists of the rhombohedral lattice, while the trigonal crystal system consists of the five
point groups of the seven space groups with a rhombohedral lattice. There are 25 space groups whose point groups are one of the five in the trigonal crystal system, consisting of the seven space groups associated with the rhombohedral lattice system together with 18 of the 45 space groups associated with the
hexagonal lattice system.