daltonism

D2A1L1T1O1N1I1S1M3
UK/ˈdɔːltənɪzəm/

noun

An inability or defective ability to perceive or distinguish certain colors, especially red-green color blindness.

Scrabble 12

Meanings

daltonism1

noundaltonism (uncountable)
  1. uncountableAlternative letter-case form of Daltonism.

Daltonism2

nounDaltonism (uncountable)

alternative daltonism

  1. uncountablemedicineAn inability or defective ability to perceive or distinguish certain colors, especially red-green color blindness.

    A person with Daltonism may be said to lack a discriminatory power that others have: his perceptions of red and green are, as such, not to be relied on.

    2002, Richard Davies, Descartes: Belief, Scepticism and Virtue, page 25
    2 more examples

    The Ishihara plates were developed for the assessment of congenital colour anomalies (Daltonism) and so there is considerable detail in the testing that is not relevant to optic nerve disease where the losses do not follow the specific patterns seen in Daltonism but show largely global losses.

    2011, Gordon Plant, James Acheson, Charles Clarke, Elizabeth Graham, Robin Howard, Simon Shorvon, “13: Neuro-Ophthalmology”, in Charles Clarke, Robin Howard, Martin Rossor, Simon D. Shorvon, editors, Neurology: A Queen Square Textbook, unnumbered page

    The concern of Kosmetatos was not how affected individuals would manage to organize their lives taking the effects of Daltonism as given; rather, using the specific case of Daltonism, he suggested the bureaucratization and surveillance of humans by recording their health condition over long periods.

    2013, Sevasti Trubeta, Physical Anthropology, Race and Eugenics in Greece (1880s–1970s), page 109

    Synonyms: color blindness, dichromatism

  2. uncountableAchromatopsia.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn inability or defective ability to perceive or distinguish certain colors, especially red-green color blindness.

More synonyms by meaning

noundichromacy characterized by a lowered sensitivity to green light resulting in an inability to distinguish green and purplish-red

Similar
deuteranopiagreen-blindness
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From Dalton + -ism. Named after John Dalton (1766–1844), who suffered from the condition and conducted early research on it.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French daltonisme
  • daltonismered-green color blindness
German Rot-Grün-Blindheit
  • Rot-Grün-Blindheitred-green color blindness
Greek δαλτονισμός, αχρωματοψία
  • δαλτονισμός (daltonismós)red-green color blindness
  • αχρωματοψία (achromatopsía)red-green color blindness
  • αχρωματοψία (achromatopsía)achromatopsia
Hungarian daltonizmus
  • daltonizmusred-green color blindness
Italian daltonismo
  • daltonismored-green color blindness
Portuguese daltonismo
  • daltonismored-green color blindness
Russian дальтони́зм
  • дальтони́зм (dalʹtonízm)red-green color blindness
Spanish daltonismo
  • daltonismored-green color blindness

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

daltonism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/daltonism

MLA

“daltonism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/daltonism. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “daltonism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/daltonism.

Source: daltonism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.