Standard Lemma guide

dichroism

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The property of some crystals of transmitting different colors of light in different directions.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The property of some anisotropic materials of having different absorption coefficients for light polarized in different directions; circular dichroism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

pleochroism of a crystal so that it exhibits two different colors when viewed from two different directions

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: pleochroism

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English dichroic Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English dichroism From dichroic + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: dicroisme — the transmission of different colors in different directions
  • French: dichroïsme — the transmission of different colors in different directions
  • Polish: dichroizm — the transmission of different colors in different directions
  • Spanish: dicroísmo — the transmission of different colors in different directions