Chromatic

//kɹəˈmæt.ɪk// adj

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Uses relating to colour; Characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue. not-comparable, usually
  2. 2
    Relating to chromatin (“a complex of DNA, RNA, and proteins within the cell nucleus out of which chromosomes condense during cell division”). not-comparable

    "Each nucleus has, then, (1) a protoplasmic body, and (2) a portion formed of nuclein, which is the chromatin of [Walther] Flemming. […] The chromatic reticulum of Flemming is only an appearance due to the regular crossing of its convolutions, rarely to their temporary union."

  3. 3
    Uses relating to colour; Brightly coloured; colourful, vivid. comparable, not-comparable, usually
  4. 4
    Uses relating to colour; Having the capacity to separate spectral colours by refraction. not-comparable, usually
  5. 5
    Uses relating to colour; Relating to colorings of graphs. not-comparable, usually
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    One of three types of tetrachord (the others being the diatonic and enharmonic), with an interval between half and four-fifths of the total interval of a tetrachord. historical, not-comparable, usually
  2. 7
    Relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written. not-comparable, usually

    "All the intervals of the scale that are a whole tone (step) distant from each other may be divided into half tones, (small steps), forming an entire scale of small intervals, (half tones), called the Chromatic Scale. […] All the tones (steps) of the scale being thus divided, either by means of the sharp or flat, we shall have for our Chromatic Scale thirteen intervals, of a half tone (small step) each."

Adjective
  1. 1
    being or having or characterized by hue wordnet
  2. 2
    based on a scale consisting of 12 semitones wordnet
  3. 3
    able to refract light without spectral color separation wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French chromatique (“chromatic”) or directly from its etymon Latin chrōmaticus, from Ancient Greek χρωματικός (khrōmatikós, “relating to colour; one of the three types of tetrachord in Greek music”), from χρῶμα (khrôma, “colour; pigment; chromatic scale in music; music”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to grind; to rub; to stroke; to remove”), perhaps in the sense of the grinding of pigments) + -τῐκός (-tĭkós, suffix forming adjectives); analysable as chroma + -tic.

Etymology 2

From chromatin + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns).

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