Chromatic
adj ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 Uses relating to colour; Characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue. not-comparable, usually
- 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 Uses relating to colour; Brightly coloured; colourful, vivid. comparable, not-comparable, usually
- 4 Uses relating to colour; Having the capacity to separate spectral colours by refraction. not-comparable, usually
- 5 Uses relating to colour; Relating to colorings of graphs. not-comparable, usually
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- 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
- 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."
- 1 being or having or characterized by hue wordnet
- 2 based on a scale consisting of 12 semitones wordnet
- 3 able to refract light without spectral color separation wordnet
Example
More examples"To the chagrin of many Western composers, steel drums, or steelpans, tend not to be fully chromatic."
Etymology
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.
From chromatin + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns).
Related phrases
More for "chromatic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.