Iridize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To create or apply a layer that displays vibrant, shifting colors resembling a rainbow when viewed from different angles of light
2. To treat a surface in a way that causes it to exhibit lustrous, iridescent colors that vary with the observer's viewpoint
3. To cover a surface with a shimmering finish that changes color depending on the light angle

Etymology: Greek "iris" meant "rainbow," and it was also the name of the goddess who carried messages between gods and mortals, sweeping across the sky in rainbow colors. The same root gave English the iris of the eye, the colored ring that shifts in tone as light strikes it. "Iridize" combines that root with the suffix "-ize," which English inherited through Latin "-izare" from Greek "-izein." The suffix means "to make into" or "to treat in a certain way," so to iridize a surface is to give it rainbow sheen that changes as you move around it. The same root lies behind the element iridium, named for the vividly colored salts it forms.

Synonyms: rainbow, color