color

noun, often attributive

col·or | \ ˈkə-lər

Definition of color

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : 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

2a : 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

3 : 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

4a : 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

5a : 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 stablewore his college colors to the game

6a 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

b : character, nature —usually used in plural showed himself in his true colors

7a : the use or combination of colors

b : two or more hues employed in a medium of presentation movies in color

8 colors plural

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

b : armed forces

9 : vitality, interest The play had a good deal of color to it.

10 : something used to give color : pigment

11 : the quality of timbre in music the color and richness of the cello

12 : skin pigmentation especially other than white characteristic of race a person of color

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

14 : 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

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

color

verb

colored; coloring; colors

Definition of color (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : 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 : misrepresent, distort a highly colored version of the facts

b : gloss, excuse color a lie

c : influence "The lives of most of us have been colored by politics … "— Christine Weston

3 : characterize, label … call it progress; color it inevitable with shades of job security— C. E. Price

intransitive verb

1 : to take on color specifically : blush She colored at the mention of his name.

2 : 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

Other Words from color Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about color

Keep scrolling for more

Synonyms & Antonyms for color

Synonyms: Noun

cast, hue, shade, tincture, tinge, tint, tone

Synonyms: Verb

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

Antonyms: Verb

decolorize

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

International-Optimism Yellow, or INT-O Yellow for short, is a collaboration between the artist G. Riley Johndonnell, who goes by the name Uncle Riley, and the Pantone Color Institute (the color itself is Pantone 108 C). — Jeffrey Bauman, ELLE Decor, "Here's Why Yellow Is the Color the World Needs Right Now," 7 May 2019 Additional videos showed swatches of the makeup, detailing how pigmented the colors truly are. — Lauren Rearick, Teen Vogue, "Fenty Beauty Announced Its Summer Collection," 4 May 2019 Food deserts are also more likely to be found in communities with a high percentage of people of color. — Jessica Booth, Redbook, "Everything You Need To Know About Food Deserts," 29 Apr. 2019 The green coat on top is similar to the color of the now-popular matcha with its thicker strip of flavor compared to that of the dark chocolate. — Sophia Caraballo, Woman's Day, "We Got an Exclusive First Taste of the New Kit-Kat Duos Mint + Dark Chocolate," 25 Apr. 2019 Brass finishes and pops of color everywhere seem to echo Africa’s incipient self-reinvention. — Pilar Guzmán, Condé Nast Traveler, "South Africa’s Other Big Five," 20 Dec. 2018 With a wonderful variety of colors to choose from, milk paint is typically used on furniture or other wood surfaces. — Lucia Tonelli, ELLE Decor, "Milk Paint: The Eco-Friendly Option That Everyone Should Know," 18 Apr. 2019 But these aren't the tacky tourist shirts you're used to, retailers offer a wide selection of prints, colors, fabrics, and fits making them not only stylish and flattering, but the perfect festive touch for any summer event. — Charlotte Chilton, Town & Country, "10 Outfits Every Man Should Wear This Summer," 18 Apr. 2019 Take your pick from three colors: black/black, brown/silver, and black/silver. — Popular Mechanics, "This AirPods Case Is Also a Fidget Spinner," 11 Apr. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The seat belts are gold-colored, which Polestar aims to turn into a signature feature. — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, "The Polestar 2 Is the First Car to Directly Challenge the Tesla Model 3," 27 Feb. 2019 Penske power Team Penske drivers have never shied from one simple fact that colors their employment as the most successful IndyCar team in history: The Indianapolis 500 comes first; everything else is secondary. — Jim Ayello, Indianapolis Star, "Indy 500 practice Day 1 highlights: Danica can't believe she's back; Penske flaunts power," 15 May 2018 Dogs are having their tresses colored, straightened, curled and waved. — Peter Haldeman, New York Times, "The Secret Price of Pets," 4 July 2018 The shirts were colored by class — blue for seniors, red for juniors, green for sophomores, orange for freshmen — and emblazoned with the wearer’s cohort numbers. — Catherine Rentz, baltimoresun.com, "'Agents of change:' A year with the UMBC program shaping some of the nation's best and most diverse scientists," 18 May 2018 Some of the Oxford study's results were colored by the effects of the 2008 recession. — William Thornton, AL.com, "What Alabama can expect from a Google Data Center," 23 Apr. 2018 So come spring—and summer music festivals—consider tapping into your inner art-school student and coloring way outside the lines. — Lauren Valenti, Vogue, "This Tie-Dye Eye Makeup Will Take You From Fashion Week to Summer Music Festivals," 8 Feb. 2019 Few things are as trying—and rewarding—and coloring your hair from the comfort of your own bathroom. — Glamour, "How to Dye Your Hair at Home Like a Pro," 27 Mar. 2019 The Truth About Sansa's Season Seven Hair Getty Images While filming season seven, Turner was recovering from a dye job gone wrong, and could not color her hair for a while. — Maya Allen, Marie Claire, "Sophie Turner Shares Her Date Night Beauty Routine and Top Hair Coloring Tips," 14 Feb. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'color.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for color

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

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about color

Dictionary Entries near color

Statistics for color

Last Updated

13 May 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for color

The first known use of color was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for color

color

noun

English Language Learners Definition of color

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a quality such as red, blue, green, yellow, etc., that you see when you look at something

: something used to give color to something : a pigment or dye

: the use or combination of colors

color

verb

English Language Learners Definition of color (Entry 2 of 2)

: to give color to (something) : to change the color of (something)

: to draw with crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc. : to fill in a shape or picture using markers, crayons, colored pencils, etc.

: to change (someone's ideas, opinion, attitude, etc.) in some way

See the full definition for color in the English Language Learners Dictionary

color

noun

col·or | \ ˈkə-lər

Kids Definition of color

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : the appearance of a thing apart from size and shape when light strikes it Red is the color of blood.

2 : skin tone as a mark of race You cannot discriminate on the basis of color.

3 : the rosy tint of a light-skinned person's face They still looked thin and tired, but color had returned to their cheeks.— Mary Pope Osborne, Christmas in Camelot

4 : blush entry 2 sense 1 Her embarrassment showed in the color rising in her face.

5 colors plural : an identifying flag

6 : interest entry 1 sense 2 Details added color to his story.

color

verb

colored; coloring

Kids Definition of color (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : to give color to

2 : to change the color of She colored her hair.

3 : to fill in the outlines of a shape or picture with color

4 : to take on or change color : blush He colored in anger.

5 : influence entry 2 I won't let these rumors color my opinion.

color

noun

col·or

variants: or chiefly British colour \ ˈkəl-ər

Medical Definition of color

1a : 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

Keep scrolling for more

color

noun

col·or

Legal Definition of color

: 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