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pointillism

 - 3 dictionary results

poin·til·lism

   [pwan-tl-iz-uhm, -tee-iz-, poin-tl-iz-]
–noun(sometimes initial capital letter)
a theory and technique developed by the neo-impressionists, based on the principle that juxtaposed dots of pure color, as blue and yellow, are optically mixed into the resulting hue, as green, by the viewer.
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Origin:
1900–05; < F pointillisme, equiv. to pointill(er) to mark with points + -isme -ism

—Related forms
poin·til·list, noun, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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World English Dictionary
pointillism (ˈpwæntɪˌlɪzəm, -tiːˌɪzəm, ˈpɔɪn-) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
Also called: divisionism the technique of painting elaborated from impressionism, in which dots of unmixed colour are juxtaposed on a white ground so that from a distance they fuse in the viewer's eye into appropriate intermediate tones
 
[C19: from French, from pointiller to mark with tiny dots, from pointille little point, from Italian puntiglio, from puntopoint]
 
'pointillist
 
—n, —adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin & History

pointillism
1901, from Fr. pointiller "to cover with pointilles," small dots, pl. dim. of point (see point (n.)). Pointillist is attested from 1891.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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