color Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect
    colour; coloring; colouring.
    • a white color is made up of many different wavelengths of light
  2. noun interest and variety and intensity
    vividness; colour.
    • the Puritan Period was lacking in color
    • the characters were delineated with exceptional vividness
  3. noun the timbre of a musical sound
    colouration; colour; coloration.
    • the recording fails to capture the true color of the original music
  4. noun a race with skin pigmentation different from the white race (especially Blacks)
    colour; people of color; people of colour.
  5. noun an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading
    gloss; colour; semblance.
    • he hoped his claims would have a semblance of authenticity
    • he tried to give his falsehood the gloss of moral sanction
    • the situation soon took on a different color
  6. noun any material used for its color
    colour; coloring material; colouring material.
    • she used a different color for the trim
  7. noun (physics) the characteristic of quarks that determines their role in the strong interaction
    colour.
    • each flavor of quarks comes in three colors
  8. noun the appearance of objects (or light sources) described in terms of a person's perception of their hue and lightness (or brightness) and saturation
    colour.
  9. verb add color to
    color in; colorise; colour; colour in; colourise; colourize; colorize.
    • The child colored the drawings
    • Fall colored the trees
    • colorize black and white film
  10. verb affect as in thought or feeling
    colour; tinge; distort.
    • My personal feelings color my judgment in this case
    • The sadness tinged his life
  11. verb modify or bias
    colour.
    • His political ideas color his lectures
  12. verb decorate with colors
    colour; emblazon.
    • color the walls with paint in warm tones
  13. verb give a deceptive explanation or excuse for
    colour; gloss.
    • color a lie
  14. verb change color, often in an undesired manner
    discolor; colour; discolour.
    • The shirts discolored
  15. adjective having or capable of producing colors
    colour.
    • color film
    • he rented a color television
    • marvelous color illustrations

WordNet

Col"or noun
Etymology
OF. color, colur, colour, F. couleur, L. color; prob. akin to celare to conceal (the color taken as that which covers). See Helmet.
Definitions
  1. A property depending on the relations of light to the eye, by which individual and specific differences in the hues and tints of objects are apprehended in vision; as, gay colors; sad colors, etc. ✍ The sensation of color depends upon a peculiar function of the retina or optic nerve, in consequence of which rays of light produce different effects according to the length of their waves or undulations, waves of a certain length producing the sensation of red, shorter waves green, and those still shorter blue, etc. White, or ordinary, light consists of waves of various lengths so blended as to produce no effect of color, and the color of objects depends upon their power to absorb or reflect a greater or less proportion of the rays which fall upon them.
  2. Any hue distinguished from white or black.
  3. The hue or color characteristic of good health and spirits; ruddy complexion.
    Give color to my pale cheek. Shak.
  4. That which is used to give color; a paint; a pigment; as, oil colors or water colors.
  5. That which covers or hides the real character of anything; semblance; excuse; disguise; appearance.
    They had let down the boat into the sea, under color as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship. Acts xxvii. 30.
    That he should die is worthy policy; But yet we want a color for his death. Shak.
  6. Shade or variety of character; kind; species.
    Boys and women are for the most part cattle of this color. Shak.
  7. A distinguishing badge, as a flag or similar symbol (usually in the plural); as, the colors or color of a ship or regiment; the colors of a race horse (that is, of the cap and jacket worn by the jockey).
    In the United States each regiment of infantry and artillery has two colors, one national and one regimental. Farrow.
  8. (Law) An apparent right; as where the defendant in trespass gave to the plaintiff an appearance of title, by stating his title specially, thus removing the cause from the jury to the court. Blackstone. ✍ Color is express when it is asverred in the pleading, and implied when it is implied in the pleading.
Col"or transitive verb
Etymology
F. colorer.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Colored ; present participle & verbal noun Coloring
Definitions
  1. To change or alter the bue or tint of, by dyeing, staining, painting, etc.; to dye; to tinge; to aint; to stain.
    The rays, to speak properly, are not colored; in them there is nothing else than a certain power and disposition to stir up a sensation of this or that color. Sir I. Newton.
  2. To change or alter, as if by dyeing or painting; to give a false appearance to; usually, to give a specious appearance to; to cause to appear attractive; to make plausible; to palliate or excuse; as, the facts were colored by his prejudices.
    He colors the falsehood of Æneas by an express command from Jupiter to forsake the queen. Dryden.
  3. To hide. Obs.
    That by his fellowship he color might Both his estate and love from skill of any wight. Spenser.
Col"or intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To acquire color; to turn red, especially in the face; to blush.

Webster 1913