English

Alternative spelling

• color (US)

Etymology

From Latin "color" via Old French "coulour"; in American spelling the 'u' was dropped from colour to aid in spelling. In the rest of the English speaking world the 'u' remains.

Noun

colour (uncountable and countable; plural: colours)

1. The spectral composition of visible light

   Humans and birds can perceive colour

2. A particular set of visible spectral compositions, perceived or named as a class

   Most languages have names for the colours black, white, red and green.

3. Hue as opposed to achromatic colours (black, white and greys).

   He referred to the white flag as one "drained of all colour".

4. Human skin tone, especially as an indicator of race or ethnicity .

   Colour has been a sensitive issue in many societies.

5. (figuratively) interest, especially in a selective area.

   a bit of local colour.

See also Wikipedia: color

Related terms

• colourise
• colorize
• coloured
• colourful
• colourless
• colours
• true colours

See Appendix:Colours

Translations

• Breton: liv m livioù pl
• Catalan: color m (ca)
• Chinese: 颜色
• Danish: farve
• Dutch: kleur
• Esperanto, : koloro
• Finnish: väri
• French: couleur f
• Galician: color
• German: Farbe f (de)
• Greek: χρώμα n (chroma)
• Guaraní: sa'y
• Hebrew: צבע
• Indonesian: warna , rona
• Interlingua: color
• Italian: colore m
• Japanese: 色 (いろ , iro)
• Latin: color, -oris, m
• Norwegian: farge
• Persian: رنگ (rang)
• Polish: kolor m, barwa f
• Portuguese: cor f
• Romanian: culoare f
• Russian: цвет m
• Spanish: color m
• Swedish: färg
• Volapük: köl
• Yiddish: פאַרבּ

Adjective

colour (absolute so no comparative or superlative forms)

1. Conveying colour, as opposed to shades of grey

   Colour television and films were considered a great improvement over black and white

Verb

to colour (coloured, coloured)

1. To give something colour

   We could colour the walls red

2. To draw within the boundaries of a line drawing using coloured markers or crayons

   My son loves to colour

3. (of a face) To become red through increased blood flow
4. To affect without completely changing

   That interpretation certainly colours my perception of the book

5. (colloquial) To attribute a quality to

   Colour me confused

Synonyms

• colour in

Related terms

• colour by numbers

Translations

• Breton: livañ (1)
• Chinese: 填色 , 上色 , 著色 (1)
• Danish: farve (1)
• Dutch: kleuren (1)
• Esperanto: kolorigi (1)
• Finnish: värjätä (1), värittää (2)
• French: colorer , colorier , teinter (1)
• Galician: colorar (1)
• German: färben (1)
• Greek: χρωματίζω
• Interlingua: colorar (1)
• Persian: رنگ كردن (rang kardan), رزیدن (razidan)
• Polish: kolorować , barwić , zabarwiać (1)
• Portuguese: colorir (1)
• Romanian: a colora (1)
• Russian: красить
• Spanish: colorar , colorear (1)
• Swedish: färgsätta (1), måla (2), färglägga (2), rodna (3)