Alternative spellings

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

Etymology

, from , from , , from , from colos "covering", from . Akin to . See usage note below. Replaced from .

Noun

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. 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. A property of quarks, with three values called red, green, and blue, which they can exchange by passing gluons.

Adjective

1. Conveying color, as opposed to shades of gray.

   Color television and movies were considered a great improvement over black and white.

Verb

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. 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.

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.

Related terms

See Appendix:Colors

• color charge
• color commentator
• colored
• colorism
• colors
• in color
• off-color
• color-blind

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Noun

1. Color; colour .
2. Color; colour .
3. Colorant; colourant; dye; pigment.
4. Color; colour .
5. Color; colour .
6. Color; colour .
7. Color; colour .
8. Color; colour .
9. Color; colour .
10. Color; colour.
11. Color; colour; timbre.
12. Color; colour.

Usage notes

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