color

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See also colour

Contents

[edit] English

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[edit] Alternative spellings

  • colour (UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, India)

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology

Middle English colo(u)r, from Anglo-Norman colour, from Old French colour, colur, from Latin color, from Old Latin colos "covering", from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (to cover, conceal). Akin to Latin cēlō (I hide, conceal). See usage note below. Replaced Middle English blee (color) from Old English blēo.

[edit] Noun

Singular
color

Plural
colors

color (plural colors) (US)

  1. The spectral composition of visible light.
    Humans and birds can perceive color.
  2. A particular set of visible spectral compositions, perceived or named as a class; blee.
    Most languages have names for the colors black, white, red, and green.
  3. Hue as opposed to achromatic colors (black, white and greys).
    He referred to the white flag as one "drained of all color".
  4. Human skin tone, especially as an indicator of race or ethnicity.
    Color has been a sensitive issue in many societies.
  5. (figuratively) interest, especially in a selective area.
    a bit of local color.
  6. In corporate finance, details on sales, profit margins, or other financial figures, especially while reviewing quarterly results when an officer of a company is speaking to investment analysts.
    Could you give me some color with regards to which products made up the mix of revenue for this quarter?
  7. (physics) A property of quarks, with three values called red, green, and blue, which they can exchange by passing gluons.

[edit] Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

[edit] Adjective

color (not comparable)

Positive
color

Comparative
not comparable

Superlative
none (absolute)

(US)

  1. Conveying color, as opposed to shades of gray.
    Color television and movies were considered a great improvement over black and white.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

Infinitive
to color

Third person singular
colors

Simple past
colored

Past participle
colored

Present participle
coloring

to color (third-person singular simple present colors, present participle coloring, simple past and past participle colored) (US)

  1. To give something color.
    We could color the walls red.
  2. To draw within the boundaries of a line drawing using colored markers or crayons.
    My kindergartener loves to color.
  3. (of a face) To become red through increased blood flow.
  4. To affect without completely changing.
    That interpretation certainly colors my perception of the book.
  5. To attribute a quality to.
    (colloquial) Color me confused.

[edit] Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

[edit] Usage notes

The late Anglo-French colour, which is the standard UK spelling, has been the usual spelling in Britain since the 14th century and was chosen by Dr. Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language (1755) along with other Anglo-French spellings such as favour, honour, etc. The Latin spelling color was occasionally used from the 15th century onward, mainly due to Latin influence; it was lemmatized by Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), along with favor, honor, etc., and is currently the standard U.S. spelling.

In Canada, colour is preferred, but color is not unknown; in Australia, -our endings are the standard, although -or endings had some currency in the past and are still sporadically found in some regions.

[edit] References

  • The Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989), s.v. colour, color, n.1
  • Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961; repr. 2002), p. 24a.
  • Pam Peters, The Cambridge Guide to English Usage (2004), pp. 397-398.

[edit] Related terms

See Appendix:Colors

[edit] Catalan

[edit] Etymology

From Latin color.

[edit] Pronunciation

  • (Eastern Catalan) IPA: [kuˈlo]
  • (Western Catalan, Mallorca) IPA: [koˈlo]

[edit] Noun

color m. and f. (plural colors)

Singular
color m. and f.

Plural
colors m. and f.

  1. (US) Color; (UK) colour (spectral composition of visible light).
  2. (US) Color; (UK) colour (particular set of the visible spectrum).
  3. (US) Colorant; (UK) colourant; dye; pigment.
  4. (US) Color; (UK) colour (hue as opposed to achromatic colors).
  5. (US) Color; (UK) colour (human skin tone, as an indicator of race or ethnicity).
  6. (US) Color; (UK) colour (human skin tone, as an indicator of physical or emotional well-being).
  7. (US) Color; (UK) colour (standard or banner (colors or colours)).
  8. (heraldry) (US) Color; (UK) colour (any of the standard dark tinctures used in a coat of arms).
  9. (figuratively) (US) Color; (UK) colour (distinguishing characteristic).
  10. (literature, art) (US) Color; (UK) colour. (the characteristics that give life or energy to a work)
  11. (music) (US) Color; (UK) colour; timbre.
  12. (physics) Color; (UK) colour. (one of the three states of a quark in chromodynamics)

[edit] Usage notes

Color can used as either a masculine or feminine noun in Catalan, but masculine usage is considerably more common.


[edit] Italian

[edit] Noun

color m. inv.

  1. Apocopic form of colore.

[edit] Latin

[edit] Noun

color (genitive colōris); m, third declension

  1. a color, (UK) colour

[edit] Inflection

Number Singular Plural
nominative color colōrēs
genitive colōris colōrum
dative colōrī colōribus
accusative colōrem colōrēs
ablative colōre colōribus
vocative color colōrēs

[edit] Derived terms


[edit] Spanish

[edit] Noun

color m. (plural colores)

Singular
color m.

Plural
colores m.

  1. color, hue
  2. rouge (cosmetics)
  3. pretext, motive, reason
  4. character
  5. side, party, faction
  6. race, ethnicity
  7. (poker) flush

[edit] Related terms