different between motley vs polychromatic

English

Etymology

From Middle English motle, from Anglo-Norman motteley (“parti-colored”), late 14th c., from Old English mot (“speck”), cognate with mote.

Equivalent to mottle +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?tli/

Adjective

motley (comparative more motley or motlier, superlative most motley or motliest)

1. Comprising greatly varied elements, to the point of incongruity.

   Synonyms: heterogeneous, diverse, manifold; see also Thesaurus:heterogeneous
2. Having many colours; variegated.

   Synonyms: colorful, prismatic, variegated; see also Thesaurus:multicolored

Derived terms

• motley crew

Translations

Noun

motley (plural motleys)

1. An incongruous mixture.
2. A jester's multicoloured clothes.
3. (by extension) A jester; a fool.

Translations

Anagrams

• etymol.

English

Etymology

poly- +? chromatic

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p?lik???mæt?k/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p?lik????mæt?k/
• Hyphenation: pol?y?chro?mat?ic

Adjective

polychromatic (comparative more polychromatic, superlative most polychromatic)

1. Showing a variety, or a change, of colours; having many colours; multicoloured.
   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka (republished by Eland, 2019; p. 76):

     With our water goggles adjusted we gazed at the fishes displaying their polychromatic scales to the sea world, as, with true Puka-Pukan languor, they finned from coral to coral.

   • 1908, O. Henry, Strictly Business

     As I rounded the corner nearest my hotel the Afrite coachman of the polychromatic, nonpareil coat seized me, swung open the dungeony door of his peripatetic sarcophagus, flirted his feather duster and began his ritual: […]

2. (physics, of electromagnetic radiation) Composed of more than one wavelength.

Synonyms

• (having many colours): motley, multicolored, polyhued; see also Thesaurus:multicolored

Antonyms

• monochromatic

Derived terms

• polychromatic acid

Translations

References

• polychromatic in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.