See Also: colour(2)(dictionary)
colour(1)(dictionary)
self-colour(dictionary)
colour bar(dictionary)
Eye colour(medicine)
colour(encyclopedia)
Colour(medicine)
off-colour(dictionary)
colour blindness(encyclopedia)
rose-colour(dictionary)

colour(1) (iou)



colour noun. Also *color. ME.
[Old French colur, colour (mod. couleur) from Latin color: see -OUR.]
I.
A particular tint; one, or any mixture, of the constituents into which light can be separated as in the spectrum, including (loosely) black and white. ME.
liver colour, mouse-colour, stone-colour, strawberry colour, etc.
Day Lewis Her hair..was a rich auburn colour. E. Longford The colours the Duke preferred were gay and warm; no greens, blues, black or white.
b. A conventional colour used in heraldry, as gules, vert, etc.; a tincture, esp. one other than a metal or a fur. LME.
c. Botany. A colour other than green. M19.
Facial complexion; hue of the skin as reflecting a physical or mental state. ME.
b. spec. Ruddiness of face. Also, a flush, a blush. ME.
S. O'Faolain A sturdy woman with fresh colour in her cheeks. Alan Jackson A word of praise would bring A colour to her cheek.
c. Hue of skin pigmentation; (dark) skin pigmentation, esp. as giving rise to prejudice, discrimination, etc. LME.
L. van der Post A spirit..at work among us all no matter what our race or colour.
The sensation produced on the eye by spectral resolution or (selective) surface reflection etc. of rays of light; the property of so producing different sensations on the eye. Cf. black, white. LME.
E. Bowen The fa?ade, dun stucco,..never altered in colour except at sunset.
a. Art. The general effect produced by all the colours of a picture. M17.
b. The representation of colour by contrasts of light and dark in an engraving or monochrome. Also, the (relative) blackness of printed type. L18.
c. (The use of) two or more colours, not just black and white, in photography or cinematography; (the use of) nearly natural colours in a reproductive medium. L19.
II.
A colouring matter; pigment; paint. ME.
Ladies Home Journal (US) If nail color chips between manicures, simply brush on a fresh coat of color.
sing. & (usu.) in pl. A coloured device, badge, article or set of clothing, etc., worn as a symbol of a party, membership of a club, a jockey's employer, etc. LME.
Sir W. Scott The servants..wore the colours of the Prince's household. National Review (US) Its green, yellow, and white colors are splashed over public buildings.
b. In pl. The distinctive colours of a school, college, club, etc., team, crew, or the like, as conferred to denote selection as a representative member; selection to represent a school etc. L19.
c. A person who has gained colours. M20.
A naval or nautical flag; either of the pair of silk flags (the King's colour or the Queen's colour and the regimental colour) carried by a regiment. In pl. also, a regiment, the armed forces, (now chiefly in with the colours). L16.
Shakespeare 3 Henry VI Sound trumpets; let our bloody colours wave.
b. In pl. More fully pair of colours. An ensign's commission. arch. E18.
c. In pl. A national flag. Also, two or more symbolic flags usually displayed or carried together. L19.
J. Dos Passos The Commanding General never permits a flag to be carried past him without uncovering and remaining so until the colors have passed.
d. In pl. A nautical ceremony at which a flag is saluted as it is raised or lowered. E20.
Mining. (A particle of) gold. M19.
Snooker. Any of the balls other than the white cue-ball and the reds. E20.
III.
(An) outward appearance, (a) show, (a) semblance of. ME.
General complexion or tone; character, kind, mood; import, shade of meaning. ME.
O. Cromwell Nor can it be urged that my words have the least colour that way. Thackeray Pendennis..took his colour very readily from his neighbour. T. Keneally The colour of his opinion..was generally anti-monarchist and Papist.
A specious or plausible reason; a pretext; an excuse. LME.
James Mill An enterprise..which..afforded a colour for detaining the troops.
b. Law. An apparent or prima facie right, as colour of title; a plausible but really false plea intended to make the point to be decided appear to be one of law and not of fact. M16.
In pl. Rhetorical modes or figures; ornaments of style or diction. LME.
Timbre, sound-quality; variety of musical expression, modulation (of the voice etc.). L16.
S. Hazzard His voice..had a mature colour, resonant, almost beautiful. Los Angeles Times The reading had vitality and color, balances that brought the all-important flute part..to the fore.
Evocative description, detailed characterization; picturesqueness in literature. Earliest in local colour: see LOCAL adjective. L19.
Particle Physics. A quantized property of quarks which differentiates them into three varieties (called blue, green, and red) and is thought to be the source of the strong interaction. L20.
Phrases etc.: change colour spec. of a person: (a) turn pale; (b) blush, flush. come off with flying colours, come through with flying colours come successfully through a test etc., win credit. complementary colour a colour that combined with a given colour makes white or black. dead colour: see DEAD adjective & adverb. false colours: see FALSE adjective. FOUR-colour problem. full-colour: see FULL adjective. gain one's colours, get one's colours be included in a sports team, esp. as a regular member. give a person his or her colours include a person in a sports team, esp. as a regular member. give colour to = lend colour to below. haul down one's colours admit defeat. high colour: see HIGH adjective. horse of another colour: see HORSE noun. lend colour to (a) afford a pretext to; (b) give plausibility to. liturgical colours: see LITURGICAL adjective. local colour: see LOCAL adjective. nail one's colours to the mast (a) persist, refuse to give in; (b) commit oneself to some party or plan of action. off colour: see OFF preposition & adjective. paint in bright colours fig. describe optimistically. person of colour a non-white person. primary colour: see PRIMARY adjective. primitive colour: see PRIMITIVE adjective & noun. RACING colours. r-colour: see R, R 1. scheme of colour: see SCHEME noun1 7b. secondary colour: see SECONDARY adjective. see the colour of a person's money receive some evidence of forthcoming payment from a person. show one's colours, show one's true colours reveal one's (true) party or character. solid colour: see SOLID adjective & adverb. stand of colours: see STAND noun1 15b. strike one's colours: see STRIKE verb. the King's colour, the Queen's colour, the regimental colour: see sense 7 above. turn colour: see TURN verb. under colour of under pretext or pretence of; under the alleged authority of. vowel colour: see VOWEL noun. with the colours serving in the armed forces.
Attrib. & comb.: Esp. with ref. to photographic etc. reproduction in colour, as colour camera, colour photograph, colour photography, colour print, colour slide, colour transparency, etc. Special combs., as colour atlas a chart giving examples of a series of shades of colour; colour bar legal or social discrimination between White and non-White persons; colour-blind adjective unable to distinguish certain colours; (esp. of animals) unable to distinguish colours at all; colour-blindness the condition of being colour-blind; colour-box a paintbox; colour-change spec. a change in the colour of an animal's coat, skin, etc., for camouflage or protection; colour code a guide or code using certain colours as a standard method of identification; colour-code verb trans. identify by means of a standard colour; colour constancy the effect whereby the intrinsic colour of an object is perceived as almost constant despite changes in the colour of the illumination; colour-fast adjective dyed in colours that will not easily fade or wash out; colour-fastness the quality of being colour-fast; colour-field painting a style of American abstract painting prominent from the late 1940s to the 1960s featuring large expanses of unmodulated colour covering the greater part of the canvas; colour film (a) a cinema film produced in nearly natural colours; (b) a film suitable for producing colour photographs; colour-filter a photographic filter that absorbs light of certain colours; colour guard an honour guard carrying colours; colour hearing = coloured hearing s.v. COLOURED adjective 1; colour-index a measure of colour; spec. (a) Astronomy the difference between the photographic and visual magnitudes of a star, or between the apparent magnitudes at two standard wavelengths; (b) Geology a number representing the relative proportions of dark-coloured (ferromagnesian) and pale-coloured minerals in an igneous rock; colour-light adjective designating (esp. railway) signals using coloured electric lights; colour line a social or occupational demarcation between white and non-white persons; colour-man (a) a dealer in paints; (b) a dye-worker; colour-phase a genetic or seasonal variation in the colour of the skin, pelt, or feathers of an animal or bird; colour-plate each of a set of plates used in printing in colour; a print made from such plates; colourpoint a cat of a long-haired breed having a pale coat with dark points, and blue eyes, developed by crossing Persian and Siamese cats; colour prejudice: against persons of particular skin colour; colour scheme a (deliberate) conjunction of colours, esp. in interior decoration or garden-planting; colour separation any of three negative images of the same subject made using green, red, and blue filters and combined to reproduce the full colour of the original; the production of such images; colour-sergeant the senior sergeant of an infantry company; a sergeant in an honour guard who carries one of the colours; colour supplement a supplement containing coloured illustrations, published with a newspaper etc. otherwise printed without colour; colour television: reproducing nearly natural colours, not just black and white; colour temperature Astronomy & Photography the temperature at which a black body would emit radiation of the same colour as the body in question; colour therapy a system of alternative medicine based on the use of colour, esp. in the form of coloured light, to promote physical or mental well-being; colourtype (process) = THREE-colour process; colour-wash noun & verb trans. (paint with) coloured distemper; colourway a coordinated combination of colours.
colourful adjective full of colour; fig. full of interest, excitement, force, etc., flamboyant: L19.
colourfully adverb E20.
colourfulness noun E20.
colourless adjective (a) gen. without colour; (b) without distinctive character, vividness, or picturesqueness; neutral: LME.
colourlessly adverb L19.
colourlessness noun L17.
coloury adjective (a) colloq. characterized by or rich in colour; (b) (of hops, coffee beans, etc.) having a colour indicative of good quality: M19.