melanochroicadj.
/mɛləˈnɒkrəʊɪk/, U.S. /mɛləˈnɑkroʊɪk/ Physical Anthropology. Now historical and rare.
1. Relating to or resembling the Melanochroi.
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the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > division by types of hair or skin > [adjective]
xanthous1829
ulotrichous1857
melanochrous1865
xanthochrous1865
xanthomelanous1865
xanthochroid1869
melanochroic1870
xanthochroic1870
melanochroid1878
xanthochroous1891
xanthochrooid1909
1870 Nature 17 Mar. 515/2 Spaniards..retain, to a great extent, the dark complexion and short stature of the Melanochroic stock.
1911 Encycl. Brit. II. 748/2 [The Australoid] race is believed..by its admixture with the Melanochroic group to have given rise to the ordinary population of the Indian provinces.
1962 Jrnl. Negro Educ. 31 189/2 Huxley distinguished five races: Australoid, Negroid, Xanthochroic.., Mongoloid, and Melanochroic (Europeans of brunet type).
2. Entomology. Partly melanic.
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1896 Amer. Naturalist 30 155 The glacial species of butterflies..are in many cases distinguished by their melanic and melanochroic tendencies.
1920 Jrnl. Genetics 10 65 I myself have captured odd specimens of melanochroic tendencies in the larch woods on Wilton Moor.
1932 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 111 191 Black larvæ yield melanic and melanochroic imagines; but so do some of the pale larvæ!
1989 S. W. Nichols Torre-Bueno Gloss. Entomol. 435 Melanochroic, dark colored or tending to blackness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1870