trichromes

Meanings

1. 1nounpluraltechnical

   Plural of trichrome: things made using three colors or three color components, such as a tricolor printing or photographic process.

   Grammar: Plural form; the singular is trichrome.

   Patterns

   • trichromes of something

   Early color photographs were made as trichromes from three filtered exposures.

   The museum displays rare trichromes from the 1910s.

   Printers combined red, yellow and blue to produce trichromes.

2. 2nounpluralmedical

   Plural of trichrome in medicine: laboratory stains that use three dyes to show different tissues in different colors.

   Grammar: Often used in the phrase trichrome stains rather than alone.

   Patterns

   • trichromes used for something

   Pathologists use trichromes to tell muscle from scar tissue.

   Masson's method is one of the best-known trichromes.

Word forms

Common combinations

Masson's trichrome

Masson's trichrome stains collagen blue.

trichrome stain

The trichrome stain showed the scarring clearly.

trichrome print

The trichrome print shows faint color shifts.

trichrome process

The trichrome process needed three separate plates.

Synonyms and how they differ

tricolors

Tricolors often means flags with three colors, while trichromes is more technical for processes and stains.

three-color prints

This plain phrase is easier to understand but less precise than trichromes.

stains

Stains is a broader word for laboratory dyes, while trichromes specifies those using three dyes.

Opposites

Word family

trichromatic adjective

having or using three colors

trichromat noun

a person with normal three-color vision

trichromacy noun

the state of seeing with three color receptors

monochrome adjective

in one color or in black and white

Commonly confused: trichromes or trichomes?

Practice

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