trichromatic

adjective

tri·​chro·​mat·​ic ˌtrī-krō-ˈma-tik 

1

: of, relating to, or consisting of three colors

trichromatic light

2

a

: relating to or being the theory that human color vision involves three types of retinal sensory receptors

b

: characterized by trichromatism

trichromatic vision

Examples of trichromatic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But their gray world is rich in attributes that might otherwise pale in our trichromatic, million-color world. —Kanya Kanchana, Longreads, 15 Oct. 2024

Helmholtz’s theory was that our vision was trichromatic, based on three fundamental colors: red, green, and blue, which can be combined to make any other color. —The Lost Women Of Science Initiative, Scientific American, 30 Nov. 2023

Like most primates, humans are trichromatic—that is, our eyes have three types of color-sensitive receptors or cones: blue, green, and red. —Virginia Morell, National Geographic, 15 June 2020

About 30 million years ago, one of our primate ancestors’ cones split into two — red- and green-detecting — which, together with the existing blue-detecting cone, give us trichromatic vision. —Quanta Magazine, 12 July 2016

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1890, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

trichromatic

adjective

tri·​chro·​mat·​ic ˌtrī-krō-ˈmat-ik 

1

: of, relating to, or consisting of three colors

trichromatic light

2

a

: relating to or being the theory that human color vision involves three types of retinal sensory receptors

b

: characterized by trichromatism

trichromatic vision