chromo
noun
chromo
1 American
[kroh-moh]
/ ˈkroʊ moʊ /
noun
chromos
plural
chromo-
2
American
chromo-
1
British
combining form
-
indicating colour, coloured, or pigment
chromogen
-
indicating chromium
chromyl
chromo
2
British
/ ˈkrəʊməʊ /
noun
Usage
What does chromo- mean? Chromo- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “color.” It is used in many medical and scientific terms. Chromo- 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 the colorful compounds the metal can form. Chromo- is a variant of chrom-, as in chromesthesia, used when combined with words or word elements beginning with a consonant. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use chrom- article. A corresponding form of chromo- and chrom- combined to the end of words is -chrome, as in polychrome. Closely related to chromo- are the combining forms chromato- and chromat-.
Etymology
Origin of chromo
By shortening; cf. -o
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Nature intended every man and woman to have 46 chromo somes per cell: 22 pairs of autosomes, which determine countless characteristics other than sex, and two gonosomes or sex chromosomes.
From Time Magazine Archive
During the last three months of her pregnancy, pious, 24-year-old Mrs. Esperanza Sacramenta Rafael of Manila lay in bed gazing at a chromo of Christ pointing to his exposed, bleeding heart.
From Time Magazine Archive
All schools are represented; paintings ranging through chromo, academic and modernist styles in all their manifestations hang in assorted order on the overcrowded walls.
From Time Magazine Archive
On its face he found a gaudy chromo entitled "No. 528 Nature."
From Time Magazine Archive
Over the bed's head hung a chromo of Our Lady, with seven swords piercing her heart; beside the bed was a Parian crucifix, with the figure of Christ writhing on it.
From The Quality of Mercy by Howells, William Dean
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
