pleochroism

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/plɪˈɒkrəʊˌɪzəm/US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(plē ok′rō iz′əm)


WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
ple•och•ro•ism  (plē ok′rō iz′əm),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Crystallography, Opticsthe property of certain crystals of exhibiting different colors when viewed from different directions under transmitted light. Cf. dichroism (def. 1), trichroism. 
  • pleochro(ic) + -ism 1855–60

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
pleochroism / plɪˈɒkrəʊˌɪzəm/
  1. a property of certain crystals of absorbing light to an extent that depends on the orientation of the electric vector of the light with respect to the optic axes of the crystal. The effect occurs in uniaxial crystals (dichroism) and esp in biaxial crystals (trichroism)
Etymology: 19th Century: pleo- + -chroism, from Greek khrōs skin colourpleochroic / ˌpliːəˈkrəʊɪk/
'pleochroism' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
dichroism - pleo- - pleochroic - tanzanite - trichroism

Forum discussions with the word(s) "pleochroism" in the title:


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