Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Chromatin \Chro"ma*tin\, n. (Biol.)
   The deeply staining substance of the nucleus and chromosomes
   of cells, now supposed to be the physical basis of
   inheritance, and generally regarded as the same substance as
   the hypothetical idioplasm or germ plasm.

Chromatin \Chro"ma*tin\, n. [Gr. ?, ?, color.] (Biol.)
   Tissue which is capable of being stained by dyes.

Source : WordNet®

chromatin
     n : the readily stainable substance of a cell nucleus consisting
         of DNA and RNA and various proteins; during mitotic
         division the chromatin condenses into chromosomes [syn: {chromatin
         granule}]