chromatophore Meaning, Definition & Usage

Gr. , , color + to bear.

(Zoöl.) A contractile cell or vesicle containing liquid pigment and capable of changing its form or size, thus causing changes of color in the translucent skin of such animals as possess them. They are highly developed and numerous in the cephalopods.
(Bot.) One of the granules of protoplasm, which in mass give color to the part of the plant containing them.