χρῶμα

Forms

χρῶμᾰ (khrôma) n (genitive χρώμᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek χρώς (khrṓs, “surface of the body, skin, complexion”) with the suffix -μα (-ma), built on the stem χρω- (khrō-) of that noun.^[1][2] Beekes treats it under χρόα (khróa) and that noun, and LSJ connects it with the verb χρώννυμι (khrṓnnumi, “to tinge, colour”), which belongs to the same family.^[3][4][5]

The origin of the noun itself is uncertain.^[1][6] It is an old s-stem, and Chantraine took the Mycenaean compound Mycenaean Greek a-ko-ro-we-e (said of oxen, “without spots” or “of one colour”) as pointing to a root *kʰrow- with a lost /w/.^[3][7] Beekes finds the resemblance with χραύω (khraúō), χραίνω (khraínō) and χρίω (khríō, “to smear”) too superficial to support an etymology.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in the 5th century BC: Herodotus uses it of the skin colour of foreign peoples, and Euripides of a person's complexion, which changes with emotion.^[8][4][9] LSJ also records the older sense “skin” in a Hippocratic treatise, though the manuscript reading there is doubtful.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the colour of the skin the word passed to colour in general, often contrasted with shape, and to the pigments and paints that give colour;^[8][4] Plato speaks of dyeing with “colours” and of looking only at the colours and shapes of things.^[8][4] Plato also uses the plural figuratively of the ornaments of poetry that distinguish it from prose, and later critics such as Dionysius of Halicarnassus speak of the “colours” of a style.^[4][8]

In music it named a modification of the simple scale and then the chromatic genus; in rhetoric a plausible pretext; and in 6th-century Constantinople Agathias uses it of the circus factions.^[4][10] Early Christian writers such as the Shepherd of Hermas use it for colour, and also for musical tone.^[5]

It survives as Modern Greek χρώμα (chróma);^[11] Triantafyllidis treats some of its modern senses as learned calques on French couleur.^[11] English chroma (1889) and the combining form chromato- come from its Latinized form.^[6]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the skin colour of peoples, and Euripides of a changing complexion.^[8][4][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of colour in general, of pigments, and figuratively of the ornaments of poetry.^[4][8][10]
• 4th century BC – Antiphanes uses the plural of musical modifications; later music theorists use it for the chromatic scale.^[4][10]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it for turmeric, a plant used in dyeing.^[4][10]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus speaks of the “colours” of a style.^[4][10]
• 6th century AD – Agathias uses it of the circus factions of Constantinople.^[4][10]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek χρώμα (chróma) means “colour”, partly as a learned word.^[11][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The skin of the body.^[4]
2. Colour of the skin, complexion, especially as it changes with emotion.^[8][4]
3. Colour in general, hue, sometimes opposed to shape.^[8][4]
4. That which gives colour: pigment, paint, cosmetic.^[8][4]
5. (figurative, plural) Ornaments, embellishments, especially of poetry or style.^[8][4]
6. (music) A modification of the simple scale; the chromatic scale or genus.^[4][5]
7. (rhetoric) A colourable pretext.^[4]
8. Turmeric, used in dyeing.^[4]
9. (Byzantine) A faction of the circus at Constantinople.^[4]

Word family

• χρωματικός (khrōmatikós)
• χρωμάτινος (khrōmátinos)
• χρωματίζω (khrōmatízō)

Related words

• χρώς (khrṓs)
• χρόα (khróa)
• χρώννυμι (khrṓnnumi)
• English chroma

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
11. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki