different between polychromatic vs tabby

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.

English

Etymology

Mid 17th century French tabis, from Arabic ??????????? (?att?biyy), ultimately from Arabic ???????????????? (al-?att?biyya), a quarter of Baghdad (named for a Prince ???????? (?att?b)) which is associated with the manufacture of a certain type of waved silk. See also taffeta, another type of silk whose name derives from the Persian ?????? (tâfta, “woven cloth”) and shares a similar etymological origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?tæb.i/
• Rhymes: -æbi

Noun

tabby (countable and uncountable, plural tabbies)

1. (countable, uncountable) A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering.
2. (uncountable) A mixture of lime with shells, gravel, or stones, in equal proportions, with an equal proportion of water. When dry, this becomes as hard as rock.
3. (countable) A brindled cat.
   • 1922 , James Joyce, Ulysses, chapter V:^[1]

     A wise tabby, a blinking sphinx, watched from her warm sill. Pity to disturb them. Mohammed cut a piece out of his mantle not to wake her.

4. (countable, archaic) An old maid or gossip.

Synonyms

• (An old maid or gossip): See Thesaurus:old woman

Translations

Adjective

tabby (not comparable)

1. Having a wavy or watered appearance

   a tabby waistcoat

2. Brindled; diversified in color

   a tabby cat.

Translations

Verb

tabby (third-person singular simple present tabbies, present participle tabbying, simple past and past participle tabbied)

1. (transitive) To give a wavy or watered appearance to (a textile).

Anagrams

• baby T