chlorophyll

or chlo·ro·phyl

[ klawr-uh-fil, klohr- ]

nounBotany, Biochemistry.

the green coloring matter of leaves and plants, essential to the production of carbohydrates by photosynthesis, and occurring in a bluish-black form, C55H72MgN4O5(chlorophyll a ), and a dark-green form, C55H70MgN4O6(chlorophyll b ).

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Origin of chlorophyll

First recorded in 1810–20; chloro-¹ + -phyll

Other words from chlorophyll

chlo·ro·phyl·loid, adjective

Words Nearby chlorophyll

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use chlorophyll in a sentence

The first was through ocean color satellites, which measured the amount of chlorophyll in the water.
These free-floating robots can monitor the health of our oceans | Charlotte Hu | August 18, 2021 | Popular-Science
For instance, leaves on a tree are green because chlorophyll absorbs red and blue light, reflecting green and yellow wavelengths back to your eye.
How minerals and rocks reflect rainbows, glow in the dark, and otherwise blow your mind | Lauren Leffer | June 28, 2021 | Popular-Science
Just as in plants, these algae use chlorophyll to derive energy from the sun through photosynthesis.
Several plant-like algae can morph into animal-like predators | Laura Allen | April 23, 2021 | Science News For Students
Loss of the chlorophyll pigments responsible for photosynthesis is common in parasitic plants that rely on their hosts for sustenance.
A reeking, parasitic plant lost its body and much of its genetic blueprint | Jake Buehler | February 10, 2021 | Science News
If a molecule, such as chlorophyll, has the right shape, it can absorb the energy from some wavelengths of light.
Explainer: How photosynthesis works | Bethany Brookshire | October 28, 2020 | Science News For Students

When the stalk is dried out, it is crushed to extract its green juice (the liquid is green because of chlorophyll in the plant).
Pancakes' New Topper | Stacey Slate | December 8, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
In other words, Grew seems to have observed the characteristic fluorescence of chlorophyll.
Makers of British Botany; a collection of biographies by living botanists | Various
The same leaves, now looking so dead, revive their chlorophyll, and become green in the spring.
A Journal from Japan | Marie Carmichael Stopes
The red rays are life to the chlorophyll-bearing plant, the violet rays are death.
The Popular Science Monthly, September, 1900 | Various
The centrosomata grow independently and increase by cleavage, like the chromoplasts (chlorophyll particles, etc.).
The Wonders of Life | Ernst Haeckel
As a rule, the ferruginous chlorophyll can only form new plasm with the help of light-waves.
The Wonders of Life | Ernst Haeckel

British Dictionary definitions for chlorophyll

chlorophyll

US chlorophyl

/ (ˈklɔːrəfɪl) /

noun

the green pigment of plants and photosynthetic algae and bacteria that traps the energy of sunlight for photosynthesis and exists in several forms, the most abundant being chlorophyll a (C 55 H 72 O 5 N 4 Mg): used as a colouring agent in medicines or food (E140)

Derived forms of chlorophyll

chlorophylloid, adjective
chlorophyllous, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for chlorophyll

chlorophyll

[ klôr′ə-fĭl ]

Any of several green pigments found in photosynthetic organisms, such as plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. At its molecular core, chlorophyll has a porphyrin structure but contains a magnesium atom at its center and a long carbon side chain. Chlorophyll absorbs red and blue wavelengths of light, but reflects green. When it absorbs light energy, a chlorophyll molecule enters a higher energy state in which it easily gives up an electron to the first available electron-accepting molecule nearby. This electron moves through a chain of acceptors and is ultimately used in the synthesis of ATP, which provides chemical energy for plant metabolism. Plants rely on two forms of chlorophyll, chlorophyll a (C66H72MgN4O5) and chlorophyll b (C66H70MgN4O6), which have slightly different light absorbing properties. All plants, algae, and cyanobacteria have chlorophyll a, since only this compound can pass an electron to acceptors in oxygen-producing photosynthetic reactions. Chlorophyll b absorbs light energy that is then transferred to chlorophyll a. Several protist groups such as brown algae and diatoms lack chlorophyll b but have another pigment, chlorophyll c, instead. Other closely related pigments are used by various bacteria in photosynthetic reactions that do not produce oxygen. See more at photosynthesis.

word history

From its name, one might think that chlorophyll has chlorine in it, but it doesn't. The chloro- of chlorophyll comes from the Greek word for green; chlorophyll in fact is the chemical compound that gives green plants their characteristic color. The name of the chemical element chlorine comes from the same root as the prefix chloro-, and is so called because it is a greenish-colored gas.

Cultural definitions for chlorophyll

chlorophyll

[ (klawr-uh-fil) ]

The complex chemical that gives a plant its green color and plays an important role in the conversion of sunlight into energy for the plant. (See photosynthesis.)

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