ravus

Esperanto

ravus

Probably a loanword via South Picene or Sabellic/Osco-Umbrian, of non-IE origin, compare Proto-Germanic *grēwaz.^[1]

rāvus (feminine rāva, neuter rāvum); first/second-declension adjective

amber (color)^[2]
(of the eyes) amber, light brown, hazel
- 77 CE – 79 CE, Plinius Maior, Naturalis Historia 11.55:
  Media eorum cornua fenestravit pupilla, cuius angustiae non sinunt vagari incertam aciem ac velut canali dirigunt obiterque incidentia facile declinant, aliis nigri, aliis ravi, aliis glauci coloris orbibus circumdatis, ut habili mixtura et accipiatur circumiecto candore lux et temperato repercussu non obstrepat.
  The horny skin in the centre of the eye nature has furnished with the pupil as a window, the narrow opening of which does not allow the gaze to roam uncertain, but so to speak canalizes its direction, and easily averts objects that encounter it on the way; the pupil is surrounded with circles which with some people are coloured black, with others [amber] and with others blue, so that the light from the surrounding radiance both may be received in a suitable blend and having its reflexion moderated may not be jarring [...]

Used as the Roman equivalent of the Greek χαροπός (kharopós), and both are often misinterpreted as gray.
Describes the eyes of humans and animals (e.g. dogs, rams, cockerels), and is also used of the early morning sea, lions, wolf's coat and other things. As a color, described by a Roman source as being between flāvus and caesius.
Pliny the Elder describes rāvus as one of the human eye colors, along with niger and glaucus. In addition, caesius and caeruleus were also used in prose to describe eyes.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	rāvus	rāva	rāvum	rāvī	rāvae	rāva
genitive	rāvī	rāvae	rāvī	rāvōrum	rāvārum	rāvōrum
dative	rāvō	rāvae	rāvō	rāvīs
accusative	rāvum	rāvam	rāvum	rāvōs	rāvās	rāva
ablative	rāvō	rāvā	rāvō	rāvīs
vocative	rāve	rāva	rāvum	rāvī	rāvae	rāva

Colors in Latin · colōrēs (layout · text)
albus, candidus, cānus, marmoreus (poetic), eburneus (poetic), niveus (poetic), argenteus (poetic), lacteus (poetic)	pullus, mūrīnus (of livestock)	niger, āter, furvus, fuscus ("swarthy"), piceus (poetic)
ruber, russus, rūbidus (dark), flammeus (poetic); rutilus, pūniceus, spādīx (poetic), sanguineus (poetic)	rūfus, rutilus, flāvus, aureus (poetic), rōbus (of oxen), croceus (poetic), rāvus (of eyes); fulvus (poetic), niger (of eyes), badius (of horses)	lūteus, flāvus ("blond"), lūridus, gilvus (of horses), helvus (of cattle); cēreus (poetic)
viridis, flāvus (poetic)	viridis, herbeus, fulvus (poetic)	viridis, glaucus, caeruleus (poetic, only dark)
	glaucus, caeruleus, caesius (of eyes)	caeruleus, līvidus, ferrūgineus (poetic), glaucus
violāceus	purpureus (underlying shade)	roseus

“ravus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ravus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
"ravus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
“ravus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “ravus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 515-16
^ Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. (1981), Studies in Greek Colour Terminology: Charopos‎^[1], Brill