chrome

The combining form -chrome is used like a suffix to mean “color.” It is used in many medical and scientific terms, especially in biology and chemistry.

The form –chrome comes from the Greek chrôma, meaning “color” and is the source of the words chroma and chrome, among many others. The chemical element chromium is so named for colorful compounds the metal can form.

The form -chrome is a variant of chrom- used at the end of words or word elements. Chromo- is another variant of chrom-.

Want to know more? Read our Words That Use chrom- article. 

Closely related to -chrome are the combining forms chromato– and chromat–.

One example of a word you may be familiar with that features -chrome is polychrome, meaning “being of many or various colors.”

The first part of the word, poly-, means “many.” The second part of the word, -chrome, means “color.” Polychrome literally translates to “many-colored.” Makes sense!

What are some words that use the combining form -chrome?

• adrenochrome
• autochrome
• auxochrome
• bichrome
• fluorochrome
• Heliochrome
• hemochrome
• lipochrome
• monochrome
• stereochrome (formed from stereochromy)

The combining form hemo- is used as a prefix to mean “blood.” What does hemochrome literally mean?