Irid. Paint?

[WingCharger]

i have seen the word Irid. after many paint codes and chips. What does Irid. mean, and is there any difference between Irid. paint and metallic?

I am not a paint guy, so I am sorry if this is a stupid question.

[mikepmcs]

Iridium was discovered in 1803 by British scientist Smithson Tennant in London, England along with osmium in the dark-coloured residue of dissolving crude platinum in aqua regia (a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acid). The element was named after the Greek word for rainbow (ίρις, iris; iridium means "of rainbows") because many of its salts are strongly coloured. (wikipedia quote)

And yes to your other question, but I'm not a scientist or chemical/physical property expert on this, so here you go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallic

Here's a pic of some iridium sunglasses

[Charger-Bodie]

Some paint brands call it poly, some metallic and some call it iridescent.

I think its R-M that calls metallic "Irid"