polychromatic

English

Etymology

poly- +‎ chromatic

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpɑlikɹəˈmætɪk/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpɒlikɹəʊˈmætɪk/
• Hyphenation: pol‧y‧chro‧mat‧ic

Adjective

polychromatic (comparative more polychromatic, superlative most polychromatic)

1. Showing a variety, or a change, of colours; having many colours; multicoloured.
   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 76:

     With our water goggles adjusted we gazed at the fishes displaying their polychromatic scales to the sea world, as, with true Puka-Pukan languor, they finned from coral to coral.

   • 1910, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], Strictly Business‎^[1]:

     As I rounded the corner nearest my hotel the Afrite coachman of the polychromatic, nonpareil coat seized me, swung open the dungeony door of his peripatetic sarcophagus, flirted his feather duster and began his ritual: […]

2. (physics, of electromagnetic radiation) Composed of more than one wavelength.

Synonyms

• (having many colours): motley, multicolored, polyhued; see also Thesaurus:multicolored

Antonyms

• monochromatic

Derived terms

• polychromatic acid

Translations

showing a variety of colours

• Catalan: policrom, policromàtic
• German: polychrom (de), bunt (de), farbig (de), vielfarbig (de)
• Irish: polacrómatach
• Manx: yl-daahagh
• Portuguese: policromo, policromático
• Romanian: policromatic
• Spanish: policromo (es)
• Tagalog: damkulayin
• Turkish: çok renkli

References

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