chromatic aberration

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noun Optics.

the variation of either the focal length or the magnification of a lens system with different wavelengths of light, characterized by prismatic coloring at the edges of the optical image and color distortion within it.

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Also called chromatism.

Origin of chromatic aberration

First recorded in 1825–35

Words nearby chromatic aberration

chromaffin, chroma key, chromat-, chromate, chromatic, chromatic aberration, chromatic adaptation, chromatic colour, chromaticism, chromaticity, chromaticity coordinates

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

How to use chromatic aberration in a sentence

The false colouring of the image is due to chromatic aberration.
Half-hours with the Telescope|Richard A. Proctor
The secondary spectrum is very commonly confounded with the chromatic aberration of higher order.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 561, October 2, 1886|Various
A refracting telescope which has been freed from the effects of chromatic aberration is called achromatic.
Pleasures of the telescope|Garrett Serviss
The great obstacle which long stood in the way of the improvement of refractors was the defect known as "chromatic aberration."
A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century|Agnes M. (Agnes Mary) Clerke

By this adjustment of the lenses of the condenser it is possible to do away with disturbing chromatic aberration.
Microscopes and Accessory Apparatus|Ernst Leitz

British Dictionary definitions for chromatic aberration

chromatic aberration

noun

a defect in a lens system in which different wavelengths of light are focused at different distances because they are refracted through different angles. It produces a blurred image with coloured fringes

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 chromatic aberration

chromatic aberration

See under aberration.