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chromo

1 American  
[kroh-moh] / ˈkroʊ moʊ /

noun

  • chromos
    plural
  1. chromolithograph.


chromo- 2 American  
  1. variant of chrom- before a consonant.

    chromophore.


chromo- 1 British  

combining form

  1. indicating colour, coloured, or pigment

    chromogen

  2. indicating chromium

    chromyl

"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

chromo 2 British  
/ ˈkrəʊməʊ /

noun

  1. short for chromolithograph

"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

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-.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

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.

See Examples For:

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

As a child in Ireland he played with Fletcher Christian's sword, knew his 18th-Century cousin's renown from yellowed family documents and a curly-wigged chromo that hung over the mantel.

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

The newspaper cuttings have been replaced by a chromo which happened to fit the frame exactly, and the happiness is general.

From Here and Hereafter by Barry Pain

That isn't a real steamer," said Patty whimsically; "it's a chromo- lithograph.

From Patty in Paris by Carolyn Wells

Indeed, Vauquelin named this new metal after the Greek word for colour, chromos - because chromium is associated with an extraordinary array of colours.

From BBC ● May 22, 2015

It died when machine-printed cards and chromos undercut sales.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ever since 1851, when Benjamin Talbot Babbitt, the father of packaged soap, got the idea of offering sentimental chromos for 25 Babbitt's Best Soap wrappers, premiums have helped sell thousands of items.

From Time Magazine Archive

Raphael did indeed 'saturate and infect the minds of millions with dull commonplaces about the gospel . . . crowding the invisible with chromos.'

From Time Magazine Archive

The premises had only recently been opened, and the reception room was a perfect gallery of beautifully arranged pictures and chromos, and India ink copies.

From The Story of the Great Fire in St. John, N.B., June 20th, 1877 by George Stewart

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