Definition of "chromatin" [chro•ma•tin]

• A complex of nucleic acids and proteins, primarily histones, in the cell nucleus that stains readily with basic dyes and condenses to form chromosomes during cell division. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Attention has accordingly been directed to the deeply-staining granules mentioned above, and the term chromatin-granules has been applied to them, and they have been considered to represent a rudimentary nucleus."
• "There is evidence of complex quantum electrodynamic operations in chromatin – the form of DNA operative when the cell isn't replicating (thus dividing its DNA into chromosomes)."
• "Rather, the DNA in chromatin must be wrapped on the outside of the histone octamer."