chromo

¹

[ kroh-moh ]

noun

, plural chro·mos.

1. chromolithograph.

chromo-

²

1. variant of chrom- before a consonant:

   chromophore.

chromo-

¹

combining_form

1. indicating colour, coloured, or pigment

   chromogen

2. indicating chromium

   chromyl

chromo

²

/ ˈkrəʊməʊ /

noun

1. short for chromolithograph

Word History and Origins

Origin of chromo¹

By shortening; -o

Word History and Origins

Origin of chromo¹

from Greek khrōma colour

Example Sentences

However, when the authors tracked the prevalence of sequences corresponding to inheritance of the parental Watson or Crick strand of a particular chromo some, they noticed that the tumours contained one of these two strands more often than would be expected by chance.

From Nature

Maersk Growth, the shipping company’s venture investment arm, is leading a $21.6 million Series A funding round in New York City-based Loadsmart, together with Connor Capital SB and Chromo Invest.

From Wall Street Journal

In their 2015 study, “Chromo Therapy: An Effective Treatment Option or Just a Myth? Critical Analysis on the Effectiveness of Chromo Therapy,” Somia Gul, Rabia Khalid Nadeem and Anum Aslam, from the school of pharmacy at Jinnah University for Women in Pakistan, looked at the physiological and emotional effects of color therapy on 200 people ages 15 to 36.

From Seattle Times

Their findings concluded that although not widely understood, chromo therapy should be “recognized and adopted by physicians” as an “effective and potent complementary treatment option” for those undergoing conventional forms of treatment.

From Seattle Times

Chromo therapy, also known as color therapy, is the practice of using certain colors to stimulate various emotions and to improve health, and it is something that many architects and designers have long recognized as having psychological benefits.

From Seattle Times

Words That Use Chromo-

What does chromo- mean?

Chromo- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “color.” It is used in many medical and scientific terms.

Chromo- comes from the Greek chrôma, meaning “color” and is the source of the words chroma and chrome, among many others. The chemical element chromium is so named for the colorful compounds the metal can form.

Chromo- is a variant of chrom-, as in chromesthesia, used when combined with words or word elements beginning with a consonant.

Want to know more? Read our Words That Use chrom– article.

A corresponding form of chromo- and chrom- combined to the end of words is -chrome, as in polychrome.

Closely related to chromo- are the combining forms chromato– and chromat–.

Examples of chromo-

A word you have likely come across that features chromo- is chromosome, a threadlike structure that carries genes and whose main component is DNA.

The first part of the word, chromo-, means “color.” The second part of the word, –some, means “body,” which comes from the Greek sôma. Chromosome literally translates to “colored body,” a reference to the way the molecules can be readily stained by dyes. Learn more at our entry for the related word chromatin.

What are some words that use the combining form chromo-?

• chromoblast
• chromocyte
• chromocenter
• chromodynamics
• chromogenic
• chromolithography
• chromolysis
• chromoplasm

What are some other forms that chromo- may be commonly confused with?

• chemo-
• chemi-
• chiro-
• chir-
• chloro-
• chlor-
• chrono-
• chron-
• chorio-
• chori-

Break it down!

The combining form –genic often means “producing or causing.” What does something described as chromogenic produce, generally speaking?