Meaning of "colour" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD COLOUR

From Old French colour from Latin color tint, hue.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF COLOUR

ˈkʌlə

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF COLOUR

Colour is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb colour in English.

WHAT DOES COLOUR MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Color

Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, blue, yellow, green and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors. Color categories and physical specifications of color are also associated with objects or materials based on their physical properties such as light absorption, reflection, or emission spectra. By defining a color space, colors can be identified numerically by their coordinates. Because perception of color stems from the varying spectral sensitivity of different types of cone cells in the retina to different parts of the spectrum, colors may be defined and quantified by the degree to which they stimulate these cells. These physical or physiological quantifications of color, however, do not fully explain the psychophysical perception of color appearance. The science of color is sometimes called chromatics, chromatography, colorimetry, or simply color science.

Definition of colour in the English dictionary

The first definition of colour in the dictionary is an attribute of things that results from the light they reflect, transmit, or emit in so far as this light causes a visual sensation that depends on its wavelengths. Other definition of colour is the aspect of visual perception by which an observer recognizes this attribute. Colour is also the quality of the light producing this aspect of visual perception.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO COLOUR

PRESENT

Present

I colour

you colour

he/she/it colours

we colour

you colour

they colour

Present continuous

I am colouring

you are colouring

he/she/it is colouring

we are colouring

you are colouring

they are colouring

Present perfect

I have coloured

you have coloured

he/she/it has coloured

we have coloured

you have coloured

they have coloured

Present perfect continuous

I have been colouring

you have been colouring

he/she/it has been colouring

we have been colouring

you have been colouring

they have been colouring

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I coloured

you coloured

he/she/it coloured

we coloured

you coloured

they coloured

Past continuous

I was colouring

you were colouring

he/she/it was colouring

we were colouring

you were colouring

they were colouring

Past perfect

I had coloured

you had coloured

he/she/it had coloured

we had coloured

you had coloured

they had coloured

Past perfect continuous

I had been colouring

you had been colouring

he/she/it had been colouring

we had been colouring

you had been colouring

they had been colouring

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will colour

you will colour

he/she/it will colour

we will colour

you will colour

they will colour

Future continuous

I will be colouring

you will be colouring

he/she/it will be colouring

we will be colouring

you will be colouring

they will be colouring

Future perfect

I will have coloured

you will have coloured

he/she/it will have coloured

we will have coloured

you will have coloured

they will have coloured

Future perfect continuous

I will have been colouring

you will have been colouring

he/she/it will have been colouring

we will have been colouring

you will have been colouring

they will have been colouring

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would colour

you would colour

he/she/it would colour

we would colour

you would colour

they would colour

Conditional continuous

I would be colouring

you would be colouring

he/she/it would be colouring

we would be colouring

you would be colouring

they would be colouring

Conditional perfect

I would have colour

you would have colour

he/she/it would have colour

we would have colour

you would have colour

they would have colour

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been colouring

you would have been colouring

he/she/it would have been colouring

we would have been colouring

you would have been colouring

they would have been colouring

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you colour
we let´s colour
you colour

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to colour

Past participle

coloured

Present Participle

colouring

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «COLOUR»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «colour» and belong to the same grammatical category.

affect · airbrush · animation · appearance · aspect · banner · bloom · blush · brilliance · burn · character · colorant · coloration · colourwash · colourway · complexion · crimson · disguise · distort · dye · emblem · embroider · ensign · ethnicity · exaggerate · excitement · excuse · falsify · flag · flush · gloss over · glow · guise · hue · influence · interest · kit · life · liveliness · misrepresent · nature · paint · personality · pervert · pigment · pigmentation · plea · prejudice · pretence · pretext · quality · race · redden · redness · regalia · rosiness · ruddiness · semblance · shade · skin colour · slant · stain · stamp · standard · strip · taint · temperament · tincture · tinge · tint · tone · uniform · vividness · zest

TRANSLATION OF COLOUR

Find out the translation of colour to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of colour from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «colour» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 颜色
• Translator English - Spanish: color
• English: colour
• Translator English - Hindi: रंग
• Translator English - Arabic: لَوْن
• Translator English - Russian: цвет
• Translator English - Portuguese: cor
• Translator English - Bengali: রঙ
• Translator English - French: couleur
• Translator English - Malay: warna
• Translator English - German: Farbe
• Translator English - Japanese: 色
• Translator English - Korean: 색
• Translator English - Javanese: Werna
• Translator English - Vietnamese: màu sắc
• Translator English - Tamil: நிறம்
• Translator English - Marathi: रंग
• Translator English - Turkish: renk
• Translator English - Italian: colore
• Translator English - Polish: kolor
• Translator English - Ukrainian: колір
• Translator English - Romanian: culoare
• Translator English - Greek: χρώμα
• Translator English - Afrikaans: kleur
• Translator English - Swedish: färg
• Translator English - Norwegian: farge

10 QUOTES WITH «COLOUR»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word colour.

1

Isabel Allende

If you change the way you tell your own story, you can change the colour and create a life in technicolour.

2

Gemma Arterton

The industry is quite chauvinistic generally. Expectations of women, girls, what they should look like, how they should be, what they should say, what they should wear, how their hair should be, what colour their skin should be.

3

Benjamin Banneker

The colour of the skin is in no way connected with strength of the mind or intellectual powers.

4

John Barton

I became intrigued with colour theory. The absurd pronouncements of the colour Institute, a group that decides what colours are hot each year or season, amused me.

5

Jacqueline Bisset

I am a great lover of art, in many forms: paintings, objets, textiles. I don't have the talent for painting, but I have a very good sense of colour, a love of visual beauty.

6

Robert Bridges

I know that if odour were visible, as colour is, I'd see the summer garden in rainbow clouds.

7

Roberto Cavalli

Fashion should be something that in the morning, when you open your window, you say, 'Oh fantastic, sun!' Then you take your shower, you say, 'OK fantastic, which colour I wear today because I feel happy?' This should be fashion.

8

Paul Cezanne

Shadow is a colour as light is, but less brilliant; light and shadow are only the relation of two tones.

9

Lily Cole

Every time I have to try on a wig for work, I get excited about the colour; I've often thought about going for a platinum bob or also raven black, as it looks so great against pale skin. But I always end up being loyal to my red colour.

10

Johan Cruyff

Ajax is a multicultural club, and we have found that many talented immigrant players quit when they reach puberty. So we wanted to tackle this problem with someone from the same background who had come through it. And that was Edgar Davids. During one of our fights, I pointed that out to him. But it had nothing to do with his skin colour.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «COLOUR»

Discover the use of colour in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to colour and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Colour: Art & Science

To answer such questions on the nature of colour this volume gathers the combined knowledge of physics, biology, history and art.

Trevor Lamb, Janine Bourriau, 1995

Colour: A Workshop for Artists and Designers

Demystifying its subject for professionals and students alike, this title inspires confidence in colour's application to graphic design, illustration, painting, textile art, and textile design.

David Hornung, 2005

Eco Colour: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles

"This book by internationally renowned dyer, costumier and artist India Flint draws on her two decades of experience and experimentation in natural dyeing techniques to present an expert, highly accessible and achievable handbook of ...

India Flint, 2008

Colour-Music

Included in this special edition is the original patent application for A. Wallace Rimington's Colour Organ, his 1895 speech announcing the new art of colour-music, and the full text of his 1912 book discussing his art in detail, complete ...

A. Rimington, 2004

Colour

Discusses the colors of the natural world, the mechanism of color vision, uses of color in technology, and the psychological effects of color

Hazel Rossotti, 1985

Colour and The Optical Properties of Materials: An ...

New to this Edition: The chapter framework of the first edition will be retained, with each chapter being substantially rewritten and some material would be relocated. Some chapters will be rewritten in a clearer fashion, e.g.

Richard J. D. Tilley, 2010

Colour: Seeing, Experiencing, Understanding

This book is ideal for parents, teachers and anyone who wishes to develop a deeper knowledge and appreciation of the phenomenon of color.

Ueli Seiler-Hugova, 2011

Colour: How to Use Colour in Art and Design

This book provides a thorough grounding in colour theory as well as expert advice about putting the principles into practice.

Edith Anderson Feisner, 2000

Colour-coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900-1950

A richly textured narrative that seeks to capture the role played by the law in the definition of race and shoring up of racial repression in Canada.

Constance Backhouse, Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, 1999

The Architectonic Colour: Polychromy in the Purist ...

With the term 'the architectonic colour', Le Corbusier (1887-1965) referred tot he profound link between this gamma and architecture. This book is an account of a significant aspect of Le Corbusier's work.

‎2009

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «COLOUR»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term colour is used in the context of the following news items.

See your way to better colour choices

But when it comes to choosing a wall colour, you're stopped cold. You are not alone. I knew a woman who put less thought into her wedding ... «Toronto Sun, Jul 15»

Kylie Minogue injects a pop of colour to Lancome Celebrates 80 …

Even shaped like the velvety lip colour, thanks to its off-the-shoulder shape, the Princess Of Pop was positively radiant from head-to-toe in the ... «Daily Mail, Jul 15»

Blake Lively debuts her new brunette hair colour on Instagram

The actress debuted her new darker colour on Tuesday, giving her Instagram followers a look at her look, which she called: 'bronde.'. «Daily Mail, Jul 15»

Debra Williams blog: Well, colour me purple!

ONE of the first questions children learn to answer is what is your favourite colour? Blue is the most popular colour, even in countries where ... «South Wales Evening Post, Jul 15»

Have a blast with Grove House's first colour run

St Albans estate agents Collinson Hall are playing a colourful part in the first-ever Colour Blast fun run in aid of Rennie Grove Hospice Care. «Herts Advertiser, Jul 15»

New colour scale reveals FarSounder images

FarSounder, the US-based navigation systems specialist, has altered the pallet of its colour-map's in order to create more intuitive and readable ... «Superyacht News - The Superyacht Report, Jul 15»

Good news Tottenham fans: White is a more successful colour than …

Previous research has suggested that teams wearing red win more matches because the colour subconsciously unnerves and scares ... «Evening Standard, Jul 15»

18 rare colour photographs of the Russian Empire from over 100 …

Russian chemist and photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii was one of the first to use colour photography in the early 20th ... «Business Insider Australia, Jul 15»

Colour Sound Invests In Robe BMFLs

West London based lighting and visuals rental company Colour Sound Experiment now holds the largest stock of Robe BMFL Spot moving ... «Live Design, Jul 15»

Probe unveils Pluto as solar system's second 'Red Planet'

More remarkable, though, is the zoomed-in, colour image that shows off the reddish hue of the surface - making Pluto strangely reminiscent of ... «The Weather Network, Jul 15»