pointillism

[ pwan-tl-iz-uhm, -tee-iz-, poin-tl-iz- ]

/ ˈpwæn tlˌɪz əm, -tiˌɪz-, ˈpɔɪn tlˌɪz- /

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noun (sometimes initial capital letter)

a theory and technique developed by the neo-impressionists, based on the principle that juxtaposed dots of pure color, as blue and yellow, are optically mixed into the resulting hue, as green, by the viewer.

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Origin of pointillism

1900–05; <French pointillisme, equivalent to pointill(er) to mark with points + -isme-ism

OTHER WORDS FROM pointillism

poin·til·list, noun, adjective

Words nearby pointillism

point estimation, point group, point guard, pointillage, pointillé, pointillism, pointillistic, pointing, pointing device, point in time, point lace

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use pointillism in a sentence

From him we may trace the modern impressionist movement, and from him modern pointillism.
Watteau|C. Lewis Hind

British Dictionary definitions for pointillism

pointillism

/ (ˈpwæntɪˌlɪzəm, -tiːˌɪzəm, ˈpɔɪn-) /

noun

the technique of painting elaborated from impressionism, in which dots of unmixed colour are juxtaposed on a white ground so that from a distance they fuse in the viewer's eye into appropriate intermediate tonesAlso called: divisionism

Derived forms of pointillism

pointillist, noun, adjective

Word Origin for pointillism

C19: from French, from pointiller to mark with tiny dots, from pointille little point, from Italian puntiglio, from punto point

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