Talk:dye

These proposals should be discussed before they are put into the article. Eclecticology 00:17, 23 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Reform

• Proposal: Stop using the word "dye."
• Why? Homophones are undesirable and confusing to people learning English.
• Replacement: The appropriate synonym should be used instead of "dye" with preference given to "color."
• Dissent: "Dye" is a commonly used word in English related to color.

• Unnecessary: this word isn't confusing.
  • Verb: Dye is a transitive verb; you can't say "Susan dyed." but have to say "Susan dyed something", and "die" is an intransitive verb, i.e. you have to say "Susan died." and can't say "Susan died something". In other words, you can't use "die" and "dye" in the same place in a sentence.
  • Noun: Dye is a noun, but "die" is not, the word is "death", so no confusion: you can't mistake "I was sad to hear about Susan's dye" for "...Susan's death".

On the other hand, the word "colour" already has 6 meanings, why add another? [1] How will we be able to distinguish between "the child coloured the picture" and "the child dyed the picture", which are clearly not the same thing? Why lose this distinction when there is no other gain? Saintswithin 20:59, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Examples

• That is a nice color you applied to the wood. (noun)
• I will color my hair today. (verb)

Basic English 850

• substance to make a different color (noun)
• make a different color (verb)

Etymology

Due to the apparent frequency of Old English DĒAG, it was supposed that the verb DĒAGIAN[4] was derived from it, in turn from *DĒAGAN[3] - only seen so far in Funk & Wagnell's two volume 1942 edition of dictionary. All follows an etymological pattern up to the Proto-Germanic root; although DĒAGE is actually an inflected (here genetive) form of DĒAG[8](masculine) and DĒAH (feminine), that seems to partially answer to root of German TAUCHEN[5] (to dip, dive, et cetera). The rest of the earlier etymology flavours of Webster's 'distant fields are greener'. I mean no criticism of that dictionary, because a lot of exhaustive work has gone into it to compile such a wide range of connections; but sometimes it is best to confine its bounds to what can be verified. It is difficult to follow any direct connection with a verb 'to darken'[3], that limits its application. Nor, for that matter, is any connection with Old Irish DECHT[5] in 'FILI DECHT' (sons of art), or Gaelic DATH[6] (colour) attestable.

[0] means 'Absolutely not; [1] means 'Exceedingly unlikely'; [2] means 'Very dubious'; [3] means 'Questionable'; [4] means 'Possible'; [5] means 'Probable'; [6] means 'Likely'; [7] means 'Most Likely' or *Unattested; [8] means 'Attested'; [9] means 'Obvious' - only used for close matches within the same language or dialect, at linkable periods.

Andrew H. Gray 21:19, 4 November 2015 (UTC) Addition: Andrew H. Gray 07:42, 12 December 2017 (UTC)Andrew (talk) Please see the Oxford Etymology Dictionary etymology that is safer. (Access, if not already a subscriber, can be through library card number, whilst waiting to subscribe). Andrew H. Gray 18:48, 26 January 2018 (UTC)Andrew (talk)

hair color

Is (hair) color a synonym in AmE? JMGN (talk) 09:59, 2 August 2023 (UTC)