color

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[edit] English

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[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Etymology

Middle English colo(u)r, from Anglo-Norman colur, from Old French colour, color, 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. Displaced Middle English blee (“color”), from Old English blēo. More at blee.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

color (plural colors) (American)

  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.
  8. (snooker) Any of the colored balls excluding the reds.
  9. A front or facade: an ostensible truth actually false.
  10. An appearance of right or authority.
    Under color of law, he managed to bilk taxpayers of millions of dollars.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Derived terms

terms derived from color (noun)

[edit] Translations

spectral composition of visible light
particular set of the visible spectrum
hue as opposed to achromatic colours
human skin tone, especially as an indicator of race or ethnicity
interest, especially in a selective area
any of the standard dark tinctures used in a coat of arms
standard or banner (colours)
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.
Translations to be checked

[edit] See also

[edit] Adjective

color (not comparable) (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

conveying color

[edit] Verb

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.
  6. (mathematics) To assign colors to the vertices of (a graph) or the regions of (a map) so that no two adjacent ones have the same color.
    Can this graph be two-colored?
    You can color any map with four colors.

[edit] Translations

give something color
draw using crayons
become red through increased blood flow
affect without completely changing
mathematics: assign distinct colors to the vertices or regions of
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.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Usage notes

The late Anglo-Norman 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-Norman 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] Asturian

[edit] Noun

color m. (plural colores)

  1. color, colour

[edit] Catalan

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Please see the discussion on Requests for cleanup(+) or the talk page for more information and remove this template after the problem has been dealt with.

[edit] Etymology

From Latin color.

[edit] Pronunciation

  • (Eastern Catalan) IPA: [kuˈlo]
  • (Western Catalan, Mallorca) IPA: [koˈlo]
  • Rhymes: -o(ɾ)

[edit] Noun

color m. and f. (plural colors)

  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 be used as either a masculine or feminine noun, but masculine usage is considerably more common.

[edit] See also

[edit] Italian

[edit] Noun

color m. inv.

  1. apocopic form of colore

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Latin

[edit] Noun

color (genitive colōris); m, third declension

  1. color, (UK) colour; shade
  2. pigment
  3. complexion
  4. outward appearance

[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] Occitan

[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Etymology

Latin color.

[edit] Noun

color f. (plural colors)

  1. color

[edit] Old French

[edit] Etymology

Latin color

[edit] Noun

color f. (oblique plural colors, nominative singular color, nominative plural colors)

  1. color, colour

[edit] Descendants

[edit] Old Provençal

[edit] Etymology

Latin color

[edit] Noun

color f. (oblique plural colors, nominative singular color, nominative plural colors)

  1. color, colour

[edit] Descendants

[edit] Spanish

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[edit] Etymology

From Latin colōre, singular ablative of color.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

color m. (plural colores)

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

[edit] Related terms

[edit] See also

[edit] Anagrams

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