a. [ Gr. 'achrw`matos colorless; 'a priv. + chrw^ma, chrw`matos, color: cf. F. achromatique. ] 1. (Opt.) Free from color; transmitting light without decomposing it into its primary colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) Uncolored; not absorbing color from a fluid; -- said of tissue. [ 1913 Webster ]

Achromatic lens (Opt.), a lens composed usually of two separate lenses, a convex and concave, of substances having different refractive and dispersive powers, as crown and flint glass, with the curvatures so adjusted that the chromatic aberration produced by the one is corrected by other, and light emerges from the compound lens undecomposed. --
Achromatic prism. See Prism. --
Achromatic telescope, or
microscope, one in which the chromatic aberration is corrected, usually by means of a compound or achromatic object glass, and which gives images free from extraneous color. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an achromatic manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Achromatism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Biol.) Tissue which is not stained by fluid dyes. W. Flemming. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. not readily colored by stains; -- of substance of a cell nucleus chromatinic [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. 1. remove color from.
Syn. -- achromatize, make achromatic [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. achromatisme. ] The state or quality of being achromatic; as, the achromatism of a lens; achromaticity. Nichol. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. achromatisation. ] The act or process of achromatizing. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Achromatized p. pr. & vb. n. Achromatizing ] [ Gr. 'a priv. + &unr_; color. ] To deprive of color; to make achromatic. [ Also spelled achromatise. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. apo- + chromatic. ] (Optics) Free from chromatic and spherical aberration; -- said esp. of a lens in which rays of three or more colors are brought to the same focus, the degree of achromatism thus obtained being more complete than where two rays only are thus focused, as in the ordinary achromatic objective. -- Ap`o*chro"ma*tism n. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

v. t. To combine or treat with a bichromate, esp. with bichromate of potassium; as, bichromatized gelatine. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. chromaticus, Gr. &unr_;, suited for color, fr. &unr_;, &unr_;, color; akin to &unr_; color, &unr_; skin, color of the skin. ] 1. Relating to color, or to colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mus.) Proceeding by the smaller intervals (half steps or semitones) of the scale, instead of the regular intervals of the diatonic scale. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The intermediate tones were formerly written and printed in colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Chromatic. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a chromatic manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the quality of a color as determined by its dominant wavelength.
Syn. -- hue. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The science of colors; that part of optics which treats of the properties of colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Cell Biol.) one of two identical strands into which a chromosome splits during mitosis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;, color. ] 1. (Biol.) Tissue which is capable of being stained by dyes. [ archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Biol.) The deeply staining substance of the nucleus and chromosomes of eukaryotic cells, composed of DNA and basic proteins (such as histones), the DNA of which comprises the predominant physical basis of inheritance. It was, at the beginning of the 20th century, supposed to be the same substance as was then termed idioplasm or germ plasm. In most eukaryotic cells, there is also DNA in certain plasmids, such as mitochondria, or (in plant cells) chloroplasts; but with the exception of these cytoplasmic genetic factors, the nuclear DNA of the chromatin is believed to contain all the genetic information required to code for the development of an adult organism. In the interphase nucleus the chromosomes are dispersed, but during cell division or meiosis they are condensed into the individually recognizable chromosomes. The set of chromosomes, or a photographic representation of the full set of chromosomes of a cell (often ordered for presentation) is called a karyotype. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; a coloring. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Optics) The state of being colored, as in the case of images formed by a lens. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) An abnormal coloring of plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. di- + chromatic: cf. Gr. &unr_;. ] 1. Having or exhibiting two colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Having two color varieties, or two phases differing in color, independently of age or sex, as in certain birds and insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being dichromatic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The condition of having an unusual intensity of color. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Iso- + chromatic. ] (Opt.) Having the same color; connecting parts having the same color, as lines drawn through certain points in experiments on the chromatic effects of polarized light in crystals. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Lithochromics. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. monochromatique. See Monochrome. ] Consisting of one color, or presenting rays of light of one color only. [ 1913 Webster ]

Monochromatic lamp (Opt.), a lamp whose flame yields rays of some one homogenous light. It is of great importance in optical experiments. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Of or pertaining to photochromy; produced by photochromy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Photo- + tri- + chromatic. ] Designating a photomechanical process for making reproductions in natural colors by three printings. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Pleochroic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Pleochroism. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Poly- + chromatic. ] Showing a variety, or a change, of colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

Polychromatic acid (Old Chem.), a substance obtained by the action of nitric acid on aloes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. tri- + chromatic. ] (Zool.) Having or existing in three different phases of color; having three distinct color varieties; -- said of certain birds and insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The quality, state, or phenomenon of being trichromatic. [ 1913 Webster ]