trichromatic

adjective

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tri·chro·mat·ic | \ ˌtrī-krō-ˈma-tik

Definition of trichromatic

1 : of, relating to, or consisting of three colors trichromatic light

2a : 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 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

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'trichromatic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.