Chlorophylls

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A collection of green pigments located in plant cells that are fundamental for the absorption of light in photosynthesis and thus essential for converting light energy into chemical energy in vegetation
2. These green pigments are crucial for the process by which plants capture sunlight to produce energy, influencing both their growth and green appearance
3. Pigments responsible for capturing sunlight in plants to drive the process of converting solar energy into chemical energy

Etymology: "Chlorophylls" is simply the plural of "chlorophyll", so the story belongs to the singular. The pigment's name was built from two Ancient Greek words: "khlōrós", meaning pale green, and "phúllon", meaning leaf. Put together, the name describes exactly what the pigment does to a plant: it colours the leaf green. The name reached English by way of French, where "chlorophylle" was the coinage. Its Greek parts are ordinary, everyday vocabulary, but the combination itself is modern, a deliberate scientific construction made from classical materials rather than a term the ancient Greeks ever used for the substance.

Synonyms: green pigments, photosynthetic pigments, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, plant pigments