palette

noun pal·ette \ ˈpa-lət \

|Updated on: 19 Jun 2018

Definition of palette

1 : a thin oval or rectangular board or tablet that a painter holds and mixes pigments on

2 a : the set of colors put on the palette

b (1) : a particular range, quality, or use of color

The designer's palette consisted mostly of earth tones.

(2) : a comparable range, quality, or use of available elements

a rich palette of tones and timbres

a palette of flavors

a palette of vegetables

See palette defined for English-language learners

See palette defined for kids

Recent Examples of palette from the Web

Simply freshen up a color that's faded, switch to a more current palette or go bold for visual interest.

— diane cowen, Houston Chronicle, "10 things you can do to add comfort, style to your home," 5 June 2018
For her shogun look, the palette is Geisha-inspired.

— erika stalder, refinery29.com, "The Empowering Reason Dolores Always Looks So Perfect On Westworld," 21 May 2018
The palettes will be available for purchase on May 24 at 1pm — no info on pricing yet.

— zoë weiner, Teen Vogue, "Kim Kardashian Is Launching KKW Beauty Highlighter Palettes," 21 May 2018
Looking west, the palette is earth-tones, tan, brown, black and gray.

— susan dunne, courant.com, "Mixed Media 'Linguistics Beheld' At Hartford Library," 19 May 2018
Here’s the ticket: Take a color unique to the MLB uniform-and-logo palette — brown — and fashion a cool, artistic look.

— tom krasovic, sandiegouniontribune.com, "What stubborn Padres can learn from SDSU retaining Aztecs affiliation," 18 May 2018
Rihanna announced yesterday that the palette is part of the new Beach Please summer collection from Fenty Beauty.

— sarah spellings, The Cut, "Rihanna Teases New Summery Fenty Beauty Collection," 15 May 2018
The color palette is very much 8-bit, though there are large-scale animations and boss fights that the NES wouldn’t have been able to handle.

— sam byford, The Verge, "Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is an 8-bit Castlevania revival coming this month," 12 May 2018
But the palette is often as dingy as the sets, which fits the story but is hard on the eyes.

— manohla dargis, New York Times, "Review: In ‘Unsane,’ It’s Not Paranoia if Someone’s After You," 22 Mar. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of palette

French, from Middle French, diminutive of pale spade, from Latin pala; probably akin to Latin pangere to fix — more at pact

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1622

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Fine Arts Terms

Gothic, baroque, bas-relief, limn, oeuvre, pastiche, rococo, sfumato

PALETTE Defined for English Language Learners

palette

noun

Definition of palette for English Language Learners

: a thin board that has a hole for the thumb at one end and that is used by a painter to mix colors while painting
: the range of colors used by someone