polychrome

See also: polychromé

English

Etymology

From poly- +‎ -chrome.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

polychrome (not comparable)

1. Using multiple or many colours.

   Synonyms: polychromatic; multicolor, multicoloured; motley, variegated

   Coordinate terms: (0) achromatic, colorless; (1) monochrome, monochromatic, monotone, unicolor; (2) bichrome, bichromatic, dichromatic, duotone, bicolor; (3) trichrome, trichromatic, tritone, tricolor; (few or several) oligochrome, oligochromatic

   • 1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 52:

     A polychrome two-handled jar with red and white streaks on a dark ground.

2. Executed in the manner of polychromy.

   polychrome printing

Translations

Translations

• Bulgarian: многоцветен (bg) (mnogocveten)
• French: polychrome (fr)
• Polish: polichromia (pl) f
• Romanian: policrom (ro)

Noun

polychrome (countable and uncountable, plural polychromes)

1. (countable) A piece of multicolored pottery.
   • 1988, Elizabeth Hill Boone, Gordon Randolph Willey, The Southeast Classic Maya Zone: A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks..., page 324:

     Maya influence is particularly noticeable in the decorative elements depicted on Ulua polychromes and the development of complex syntactic rules governing the organization of decorative motifs into an integrated stylistic design.

2. (chemistry, uncountable) esculin (so called in allusion to its fluorescent solutions)

Verb

polychrome (third-person singular simple present polychromes, present participle polychroming, simple past and past participle polychromed)

1. To paint or dye with multiple colours.
2. To divide (a dye etc.) into multiple colours.

References

• “polychrome”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔ.li.kʁom/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

polychrome (plural polychromes)

1. polychrome
2. multicoloured

   Synonym: multicolore

   Antonym: monochrome

   Hyponyms: bichrome, quadrichrome, trichrome

Verb

polychrome

1. inflection of polychromer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “polychrome”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.