# chromatic

> English word · Adjective · IPA /kɹəˈmæt.ɪk/ · frequency rank #32,320

## Definitions
1. Uses relating to colour
2. Uses relating to colour
3. Uses relating to colour
4. Uses relating to colour
5. One of three types of tetrachord (the others being the diatonic and enharmonic), with an interval between half and four-fifths of the total interval of a tetrachord.
6. Relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written.

## Etymology
Borrowed from French chromatique (“chromatic”) or directly from its etymon Latin chrōmaticus, from Ancient Greek χρωματικός (khrōmatikós, “relating to colour; one of the three types of tetrachord in Greek music”), from χρῶμα (khrôma, “colour; pigment; chromatic scale in music; music”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to grind; to rub; to stroke; to remove”), perhaps in the sense of the grinding of pigments) + -τῐκός (-tĭkós, suffix forming adjectives); analysable as chroma + -tic.

## Easily confused with
- **chromatin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chromatic-vs-chromatin)

## Common misspellings (14)
`cchromatic`, `chhromatic`, `chormatic`, `chrmoatic`, `chroamtic`, `chromaitc`, `chromatci`, `chromaticc`, `chromattic`, `chrommatic`, `chromtaic`, `chrromatic`, `crhomatic`, `hcromatic`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/chromatic