chrome

1 of 3

noun

ˈkrōm 

1

a

: chromium

b

: a chromium pigment

2

: something plated with an alloy of chromium

chrome

2 of 3

verb

chromed; chroming

transitive verb

1

: to treat with a compound of chromium (as in dyeing)

2

: chromize

-chrome

3 of 3

noun combining form or adjective combining form

ˌkrōm

1

: colored thing

heliochrome

2

: coloring matter

urochrome

Examples of chrome in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

This includes a pair of black leather chairs with chrome frames, set in two corners of the dining room. —Lennie Omalza, The Courier-Journal, 21 Nov. 2024

Meanwhile, the lighting in the shower could be adjusted to mimic something more like the dance floor of Saturday Night Fever, but the overall effect—with the suite’s chrome and leather furniture—was more Paolo Sorrentino than Bay Ridge Italiano. —Liam Hess, Vogue, 21 Nov. 2024

Verb

Portraits of families rendered in paint and chrome Each lowrider tells a story with their car. —Cross Harris, Austin American-Statesman, 13 July 2024

Fun fact: The ceremony included a custom fleet of chrome Chevrolet pick-up trucks rigged with spotlights. —Thomas Wheatley, Axios, 26 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from French chrôme, borrowed from Greek chrôma "color" — more at -chrome

Note: Name introduced by the French chemist Louis Nicolas Vauquelin (1763-1829) in "Du plomb rouge de Sibérie, et expériences sur le nouveau métal qu'il contient," Journal des mines, Messidor, An V [vol. 6, June-July, 1797], pp. 737-60. Vauquelin notes that a word meaning "color"—originally suggested to him by the mineralogist René-Just Haüy—is fitting for the metal not because it has a distinctive color itself, but because the combinations into which it enters with oxygen (as a green oxide and red acid) are remarkable for their colors.

Verb

derivative of chrome entry 1

Noun combining form or adjective combining form

borrowed from Greek -chrōmos "having a color (of the kind specified by the initial element)," adjective derivative of chrōmat-, chrôma "skin, complexion, color," from chrō- (the base of an s-stem *chrowos-, whence chrṓs "surface of the body, skin, flesh, complexion, color," of obscure origin) + -ma, resultative noun suffix

Note: The form *chrowos- is reconstructed on the basis of Mycenaean a-ko-ro-we-e "without spots" (or "of one color"). While chrṓs can be contracted directly from a nominative *chrowṓs, the Homeric accusative chróa, genitive chroós assume *chrowós-a, *chrowos-ós, with hyphaeresis of the second vowel of the stem.

First Known Use

Noun

1800, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1876, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing chrome

• chrome green
• chrome yellow

Kids Definition

chrome

noun

ˈkrōm

1

a

: chromium

b

: a chromium pigment

2

: something plated with an alloy of chromium

Medical Definition

chrome

noun

ˈkrōm 

1

: chromium

2

: a chromium pigment