chromatic

chromatic · adjective¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gʰer-“to grind; to rub; to stroke; to remove”
2. Ancient Greek · derived fromχρωματικός“relating to colour; one of the three types of tetrachord in Greek music”
3. Latin · borrowed fromchrōmaticus
4. French · borrowed fromchromatique“chromatic”
5. English todaychromatic

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.

chromatic · adjective²

From chromatin + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns).

Words from the same roots