color

1 of 2

noun

col·​or ˈkə-lər 

plural colors

often attributive

1

a

: a phenomenon of light (such as red, brown, pink, or gray) or visual perception that enables one to differentiate otherwise identical objects

b(1)

: the aspect of the appearance of objects and light sources that may be described in terms of hue, lightness, and saturation (see saturation sense 4) for objects and hue, brightness, and saturation for light sources

the changing color of the sky

also : a specific combination of hue, saturation, and lightness or brightness

comes in six colors

(2)

: a color other than and as contrasted with black, white, or gray

c

colors plural : clothing of a bright (see bright entry 1 sense 4) color : clothing that is neither dark nor light in color

Wash your colors separately from your darks and lights.

2

: something used to give color : pigment

3

a

: two or more hues employed in a medium of presentation

movies in color

b

: the use or combination of colors

4

: skin pigmentation other than and especially darker than what is considered characteristic of people typically defined as white (see white entry 1 sense 2a)

The charges … allege that the social network discriminates based on color …

—Shawn Knight

—often used with of

… the policy of treating youthful offenders as adults falls most heavily on those of color.

—Kristin Choo

see also man of color, person of color, woman of color

5

: complexion tint:

a

: the tint characteristic of good health

… sat looking at her with wistful eyes, trying to see signs of hope in the faint color on Beth's cheeks.

—Louisa May Alcott

b

: blush

6

a

: an identifying badge, pennant, or flag

—usually used in plural

a ship sailing under Swedish colors

b

: colored clothing distinguishing one as a member of a particular group or representative of a particular person or thing

—usually used in plural

a jockey wearing the colors of the stable

wore his college colors to the game

7

a

: character, nature

—usually used in plural

showed himself in his true colors

b

colors plural : position as to a question or course of action : stand

… the USSR changed neither its colors nor its stripes during all of this …

—Norman Mailer

8

a

: vividness or variety of effects of language

… that color and force of style which were later to make him outstanding among American editors …

—Arthur Krock

b

: local color

9

: vitality, interest

The play had a good deal of color to it.

10

: analysis of game action or strategy, statistics and background information on participants, and often anecdotes provided by a sportscaster to give variety and interest to the broadcast of a game or contest

a color commentator

11

a

: an outward often deceptive show : appearance

His story has the color of truth.

b

: a legal claim to or appearance of a right, authority, or office

c

: a pretense offered as justification : pretext

the color for his action

d

: an appearance of authenticity : plausibility

lending color to this notion

12

colors plural

a

: a naval or nautical salute to a flag being hoisted or lowered

b

: armed forces

13

: the quality of timbre in music

the color and richness of the cello

14

: a small particle of gold in a gold miner's pan after washing

15

: a hypothetical property of quarks that differentiates each type into three forms having a distinct role in binding quarks together

color

2 of 2

verb

colored; coloring; colors

transitive verb

1

a

: to give color to

b

: to change the color of (as by dyeing, staining, or painting)

She colors her hair.

2

: to change as if by dyeing or painting: such as

a

: influence

"The lives of most of us have been colored by politics … "

—Christine Weston

b

: misrepresent, distort

a highly colored version of the facts

c

: gloss, excuse

color a lie

3

: characterize, label

… call it progress; color it inevitable with shades of job security

—C. E. Price

intransitive verb

1

: to fill in a shape or picture outlined on a piece of paper using markers, crayons, colored pencils, etc.

His granddaughter Fernanda sat at his side, coloring with crayons.

—Charles Montgomery

2

: to take on color

specifically : blush

She colored at the mention of his name.

colorer

ˈkə-lər-ər 

noun

Synonyms

Noun

• cast
• hue
• shade
• tincture
• tinge
• tint
• tone

Verb

• bepaint [archaic]
• dye
• paint
• pigment
• stain
• tincture
• tinge
• tint

Examples of color in a Sentence

Noun

The color of blood is red.

What color are your eyes?

What color paint shall we use?

Blue and green are my favorite colors.

The pillows are all different colors.

The room needs more color.

In early summer the garden is full of color.

She added color to her outfit with a bright scarf.

His eyes were bluish-green in color.

She's using a new lip color.

Verb

We colored the water with red ink.

The children were busy coloring in their coloring books.

My nephew colored a picture for me.

The child colored the sky blue and the sun yellow.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Soulful, rich, drenched in color and magic, the original offered a vibrancy unseen before. —Gloria Oladipo, Washington Post, 18 Apr. 2024

The multi-hyphenate, 36, debuted a new hair color and wispy bangs on Wednesday, April 17, while hosting an event in London to celebrate the release of the latest Fenty x Puma Creeper Phatty colorways. —Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 18 Apr. 2024

Only once your claims have been approved will the team collaborate closely with you to select the most suitable product and colors that cater to your needs. —Kyle J. Russell, USA TODAY, 18 Apr. 2024

In a baby’s first few months, parents can begin early literacy by reading to their child with colorful picture books, especially with bright contrasting colors. —Isabella Balandran, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2024

For Season 2, the costumes were a little bolder in color and more period correct. —Radhika Seth, Vogue, 18 Apr. 2024

Quince has linen in all kinds of colors and pinstripe, too, so do yourself a favor and stock up. —Isis Briones, Travel + Leisure, 18 Apr. 2024

But don't be fooled by its attractive and vibrant colors — stinknet is detrimental to new environments. —Shelby Slade, The Arizona Republic, 17 Apr. 2024

Even in late winter, the garden is blazing with color and, as Cullen planned strategically, when those fade, others will bloom. —Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Apr. 2024

Verb

Its members share histories of fierce competition as well as personal and political betrayal, which can sometimes color the details that leak out. —Russell Goldman, New York Times, 16 Apr. 2024

Enchantment and calamity will indeed color the storyline when Miami City Ballet reveals this panorama from the perspective of choreographer Alexei Ratmansky. —Guillermo Perez, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2024

From being cost-efficient to extremely convenient, the pros of coloring your hair at home are many. —Audrey Noble, Vogue, 14 Apr. 2024

In celebration of Earth Day, kids are invited to color their own flowerpot and pot a succulent. —Brittany Delay, The Mercury News, 12 Apr. 2024

What differentiates this faux greenery from others is the gradient coloring of the leaves that don’t look waxy. —Ali Faccenda, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 Apr. 2024

The stripes coloring their rears and hind legs are unique to each individual, to the point where they can be used for identification like a set of fingerprints. —Katie Liu, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024

While partisan politics, pandemic hangover and other factors have colored people’s attitudes, experts say inflation appears to be the single biggest economic albatross for Biden. —Don Lee, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024

Brilliant straw colored, this enticing wine has aromas of mandarin peel, citrus blossom, and white peach. —Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 4 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English colour, borrowed from Anglo-French, going back to Latin color, earlier colōs "color as a physical phenomenon, pigment, complexion, appearance," probably, assuming an original meaning "covering, outermost layer, appearance," going back to *ḱel-ōs, collective derivative from an Indo-European s-stem *ḱel-os "covering" (whence perhaps Sanskrit śaras- "skin on boiled milk, cream" and, from a thematic derivative, Old High German hulisa "hull of a legume"), derivative of a verbal base *ḱel- "cover, conceal" — more at conceal

Verb

Middle English colouren, borrowed from Anglo-French colurer, going back to Latin colōrāre, derivative of color color entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing color

• a horse of a different color
• broke the color bar
• broke the color line
• change color
• color bar
• color-bearer
• color-blind
• color blindness
• color coded
• color commentator
• color-field
• color filter
• color guard
• color in
• color line
• color model
• color phase
• color scheme
• color temperature
• color wheel
• complementary color
• earth color
• false color
• for color
• in (full) color
• in living color
• local color
• man of color
• off-color
• oil color
• parti-color
• person of color
• poster color
• primary color
• r-color
• red-green color blindness
• secondary color
• tertiary color
• the color drained from someone's face
• three-color
• tone color
• turn color
• woman of color

Kids Definition

color

1 of 2 noun

col·​or ˈkəl-ər 

1

a

: an aspect of light (as red, brown, or gray) or sight that allows one to tell otherwise identical objects apart from each other

the color of blood is red

b

: the property of objects and light sources that may be described in terms of hue, lightness, and chromatic purity for objects and hue, brightness, and chromatic purity for light sources

the sky's changing color

c

: a particular combination of hue, lightness or brightness, and chromatic purity

the car comes in six colors

d

: a color other than black, white, or gray

2

: an outward and often deceiving appearance

her story has the color of truth

3

a

: the color of a person's skin especially other than white as a mark of race

a person of color

does not discriminate on the basis of color

b

: a pink or red tone in a person's face especially because of good health, excitement, or embarrassment

4

: the use or combination of colors

a painter who is a master of color

5

plural

a

: an identifying flag, badge, or pennant

a ship sailing under Swedish colors

b

: service in the armed forces

a call to the colors

c

: a person's nature or character

showed his true colors during the crisis

6

: vitality sense 3b, interest entry 1 sense 4b

her comments added color to the broadcast

7

: something used to give color : pigment

color

2 of 2 verb

1

a

: to give color to

the wind colored our cheeks

b

: to change the color of (as by dyeing, staining, or painting)

2

: misrepresent, distort

his story is colored by his prejudices

3

: to take on or change color

especially : blush

colorer noun

Medical Definition

color

noun

col·​or

variants or chiefly British colour

ˈkəl-ər 

1

a

: a phenomenon of light (as red, brown, pink, or gray) or visual perception that enables one to differentiate otherwise identical objects

b

: the aspect of objects and light sources that may be described in terms of hue, lightness, and saturation for objects and hue, brightness, and saturation for light sources

c

: a hue as contrasted with black, white, or gray

2

: complexion tint

especially : the tint characteristic of good health

color adjective

or chiefly British colour

Legal Definition

color

noun

col·​or

: a legal claim to or appearance of a right or authority

threats that gave color to an act of self-defense

—usually used in the phrase under color of

a police officer held liable for violating the plaintiff's civil rights under color of state law

a second “search” under color of warrant

—W. R. LaFave and J. H. Israel