a property of certain crystals of absorbing light to an extent that depends on the orientation of the electric vector of the light with respect to the optic axes of the crystal. The effect occurs in uniaxial crystals (dichroism) and esp in biaxial crystals (trichroism)
Derived forms
pleochroic (ˌpliːəˈkrəʊɪk)
adjective
Word origin
C19: pleo- + -chroism, from Greek khrōs skin colour
pleochroism in American English
(pliˈɑkroʊˌɪzəm)
noun
the property of some minerals of absorbing selectively various wavelengths of light and of displaying different colors when looked at in the directions of the different crystal axes