chromatography

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Back-formation from chromatographic, borrowed from German chromatographisch (see there for more); by surface analysis, chromato- +‎ -graphy. The technique is so named because it was developed primarily for the separation of the plant pigments, which would separate in bands of different "colors" (chromato-) .

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌkɹəʊ.məˈtɒɡɹə.fi/
    • Rhymes: -ɒɡɹəfi
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (Indic) IPA(key): /kroˈmaʈoˌɡrafi/

Noun

chromatography (countable and uncountable, plural chromatographies)

  1. (analytical chemistry) Any of various techniques for the qualitative or quantitative separation of the components of mixtures of compounds; all characterized by the use of a mobile phase (gas or liquid) moving relative to a stationary phase (liquid or solid) – the differences between the rates of migration of the compounds between the two phases affect the separation.

Derived terms

Translations