pointillism

UK: /ˈpwæntɪˌlɪzəm/

US: (pwan′tl iz′əm, -tē iz′-, poin′tl iz′-)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

poin•til•lism  (pwan′tl iz′əm, -tē iz′-, poin′tl iz′-), n. (sometimes cap.)

1. Fine Art 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.

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

poin′til•list, n., adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pointillism / ˈpwæntɪˌlɪzəm -tiːˌɪzəm ˈpɔɪn-/ noun

1. 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 tones

Etymology: 19th Century: from French, from pointiller to mark with tiny dots, from pointille little point, from Italian puntiglio, from punto point

ˈpointillist noun , adjective

ˈpointiˌlliste adjective