12 results for: chromatic

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

chro·mat·ic

Audio Help [kroh-mat-ik, kruh-] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	pertaining to color or colors.

Music.

a.	involving a modification of the normal scale by the use of accidentals.

b.	progressing by semitones, esp. to a tone having the same letter name, as in C to C sharp.

[Origin: 1590–1600; < Gk chrōmatikós, equiv. to chrōmat- (see chromato-) + -ikos -ic

]

—Related forms

chro·mat·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
chromatic

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

chro·mat·ic Audio Help (krō-māt'ĭk) Pronunciation Key
adj.

1. Relating to colors or color.
2. Relating to color perceived to have a saturation greater than zero.
3. Of, relating to, or based on the chromatic scale.
4. Relating to chords or harmonies based on nonharmonic tones.
Music
1. Of, relating to, or based on the chromatic scale.
2. Relating to chords or harmonies based on nonharmonic tones.

[Greek khrōmatikos, from khrōma, khrōmat-, color.]

chro·mat'i·cal·ly adv., chro·mat'i·cism (-sĭz'əm) n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
chromatic

1597 (of music), 1831 (of color), from Gk. khromatikos "suited for color," from khroma (gen. khromatos) "color, complexion, character," but also used of music, orig. "skin, surface."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

chromatic
adjective
1.	able to refract light without spectral color separation; "chromatic lens"
2.	based on a scale consisting of 12 semitones; "a chromatic scale" [ant: diatonic]
3.	being or having or characterized by hue [ant: achromatic]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
chromatic [krəˈmӕtik, (American) krou-]

a series of musical notes, each separated from the next by a semitone

Arabic:	لَوْني، مُرَكَّز على السُّلَّم اللوني
Chinese (Simplified):	半音阶的
Chinese (Traditional):	半音音階
Czech:	chromatický, půltónový
Danish:	kromatisk
Dutch:	chromatisch
Estonian:	kromaatiline heliredel
Finnish:	kromaattinen asteikko
French:	chromatique
German:	chromatisch
Greek:	χρωματική κλίμακα
Hungarian:	kromatikus
Icelandic:	krómatískur, smástígur (hálftóna-)
Indonesian:	kromatik
Italian:	cromatico; scala cromatica*

Japanese:	半音階
Latvian:	hromatisks
Lithuanian:	chromatinis
Norwegian:	kromatisk skala
Polish:	gama chromatyczna
Portuguese (Brazil):	cromático
Portuguese (Portugal):	cromático
Romanian:	cromatic
Russian:	хроматическая гамма
Slovak:	chromatický, poltónový
Slovenian:	kromatična lestvica
Spanish:	cromático
Swedish:	kromatisk, kromatisk skala
Turkish:	sesleri yarımşar ton aralıklı nota dizini

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

chromatic Audio Help (krō-māt'ĭk) Pronunciation Key
Relating to color or colors.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

chro·mat·ic (kr-mtk)
adj.

Relating to color or colors.
Produced by or made in a color or colors.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry: chro·mat·ic
Pronunciation: krO-'mat-ik
Function: adjective
1 : of, relating to, or characterized by color or color phenomena or sensations <chromatic perception> <chromatic stimuli>
2 : capable of being colored by staining agents <chromatic substances>

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Chromatic

Chro*mat"ic\, a. [L. chromaticus, Gr. ?, suited for color, fr. ?, ?, color; akin to ? color, ? skin, color of the skin.]

1. Relating to color, or to colors.

2. (Mus.) Proceeding by the smaller intervals (half steps or semitones) of the scale, instead of the regular intervals of the diatonic scale.

Note: The intermediate tones were formerly written and printed in colors.

Chromatic aberration. (Opt.) See Aberration, 4.

Chromatic printing, printing from type or blocks covered with inks of various colors.

Chromatic scale (Mus.), the scale consisting of thirteen tones, including the eight scale tones and the five intermediate tones.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

chromatic

Di`a*ton"ic\, a. [L. diatonicus, diatonus, Gr. ?, ?, fr. ? to stretch out; dia` through + ? to stretch: cf. F. diatonique. See Tone.] (Mus.) Pertaining to the scale of eight tones, the eighth of which is the octave of the first.

Diatonic scale (Mus.), a scale consisting of eight sounds with seven intervals, of which two are semitones and five are whole tones; a modern major or minor scale, as distinguished from the chromatic scale.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Chromatic

Scale\, n. [L. scalae, pl., scala staircase, ladder; akin to scandere to climb. See Scan; cf. Escalade.]

1. A ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending. [Obs.]

2. Hence, anything graduated, especially when employed as a measure or rule, or marked by lines at regular intervals. Specifically: (a) A mathematical instrument, consisting of a slip of wood, ivory, or metal, with one or more sets of spaces graduated and numbered on its surface, for measuring or laying off distances, etc., as in drawing, plotting, and the like. See Gunter's scale. (b) A series of spaces marked by lines, and representing proportionately larger distances; as, a scale of miles, yards, feet, etc., for a map or plan. (c) A basis for a numeral system; as, the decimal scale; the binary scale, etc. (d) (Mus.) The graduated series of all the tones, ascending or descending, from the keynote to its octave; -- called also the gamut. It may be repeated through any number of octaves. See Chromatic scale, Diatonic scale, Major scale, and Minor scale, under Chromatic, Diatonic, Major, and Minor.

3. Gradation; succession of ascending and descending steps and degrees; progressive series; scheme of comparative rank or order; as, a scale of being.

There is a certain scale of duties . . . which for want of studying in right order, all the world is in confusion. --Milton.

4. Relative dimensions, without difference in proportion of parts; size or degree of the parts or components in any complex thing, compared with other like things; especially, the relative proportion of the linear dimensions of the parts of a drawing, map, model, etc., to the dimensions of the corresponding parts of the object that is represented; as, a map on a scale of an inch to a mile.

Scale of chords, a graduated scale on which are given the lengths of the chords of arcs from 0[deg] to 90[deg] in a circle of given radius, -- used in measuring given angles and in plotting angles of given numbers of degrees.

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