polychrome

[ pol-ee-krohm ]

adjective

1. being of many or various colors.
2. decorated or executed in many colors, as a statue, vase, or mural.

verb (used with object)

, pol·y·chromed, pol·y·chrom·ing.

1. to paint in many or various colors.

noun

1. a polychrome object or work.

polychrome

/ ˈpɒlɪˌkrəʊm /

adjective

1. having various or changing colours; polychromatic
2. made with or decorated in various colours

noun

1. a work of art or artefact in many colours

Word History and Origins

Origin of polychrome¹

1795–1805; earlier polychrom < German < Greek polýchrōmos many-colored. See poly-, -chrome

Example Sentences

Baghramian, who was born in Iran, will present abstract, polychrome sculptures, in the niches, that “seem to have washed up like flotsam and jetsam,” the museum said.

From New York Times

The mug was described in the auction catalogue as "a tin glazed commemorative mug with polychrome decoration depicting a bust length portrait of King Charles II, crowned and wearing armour and titled 'CD2 and 1660'".

From BBC

“All reconstructions engage in uncertainty,” said Sarah E. Bond, a historian at the University of Iowa who has written extensively on the polychrome debate.

From New York Times

All the colorized statues are interpretations of what the polychrome scholars believe they may have looked like.

From Washington Post

It retains the full respiratory grandeur of his large seascapes, the nearly abstract polychromes of his late whaling pictures.

From New York Times