Definitions for colour
ˈkʌl ərcolour

Princeton's WordNet(2.33 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. coloring material, colouring material, color, colournoun

   any material used for its color

   "she used a different color for the trim"

2. color, colour, people of color, people of colournoun

   a race with skin pigmentation different from the white race (especially Blacks)

3. color, colournoun

   (physics) the characteristic of quarks that determines their role in the strong interaction

   "each flavor of quarks comes in three colors"

4. color, colour, vividnessnoun

   interest and variety and intensity

   "the Puritan Period was lacking in color"; "the characters were delineated with exceptional vividness"

5. color, colour, coloration, colourationnoun

   the timbre of a musical sound

   "the recording fails to capture the true color of the original music"

6. color, colour, coloring, colouringnoun

   a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect

   "a white color is made up of many different wavelengths of light"

7. semblance, gloss, color, colournoun

   an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading

   "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"

8. color, colouradjective

   the appearance of objects (or light sources) described in terms of a person's perception of their hue and lightness (or brightness) and saturation

9. color, colourverb

   having or capable of producing colors

   "color film"; "he rented a color television"; "marvelous color illustrations"

10. color, colourverb

    modify or bias

    "His political ideas color his lectures"

11. color, colour, emblazonverb

    decorate with colors

    "color the walls with paint in warm tones"

12. color, colour, glossverb

    give a deceptive explanation or excuse for

    "color a lie"

13. tinge, color, colour, distortverb

    affect as in thought or feeling

    "My personal feelings color my judgment in this case"; "The sadness tinged his life"

14. color, colorize, colorise, colourise, colourize, colour, color in, colour inverb

    add color to

    "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film"

15. discolor, discolour, colour, colorverb

    change color, often in an undesired manner

    "The shirts discolored"

Wiktionary(4.00 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. colournoun

   The spectral composition of visible light

   Humans and birds can perceive colour

2. colournoun

   A particular set of visible spectral compositions, perceived or named as a class

   Most languages have names for the colours black, white, red and green.

3. colournoun

   Hue as opposed to achromatic colours (black, white and greys).

   He referred to the white flag as one "drained of all colour".

4. colournoun

   Human skin tone, especially as an indicator of race or ethnicity.

   Colour has been a sensitive issue in many societies.

5. colournoun

   Interest, especially in a selective area

   a bit of local colour

6. colournoun

   Any of the standard dark tinctures used in a coat of arms, including azure, gules, sable, and vert. Contrast with metal.

7. colournoun

   A standard or banner.

   The loss of their colours destroyed the regiment's morale.

8. colournoun

   The system of colour television.

   This film is broadcast in colour.

9. colournoun

   An award for sporting achievement, particularly within a school or university.

   He was awarded colours for his football.

10. colourverb

    To give something colour.

    We could colour the walls red.

11. colourverb

    To apply colours to the areas within the boundaries of a line drawing using coloured markers or crayons.

    My son loves to colour.

12. colourverb

    Of a face: To become red through increased blood flow, implying due to strong emotion.

    Her face coloured as she realised her mistake.

13. colourverb

    To affect without completely changing.

    That interpretation certainly colours my perception of the book.

14. colourverb

    To attribute a quality to.

    Colour me confused.

15. colournoun

    A property of quarks, with three values called red, green, and blue, which they can exchange by passing gluons.

16. colournoun

    The relative lightness or darkness of a mass of written or printed text on a page.

17. colournoun

    Any of the coloured balls excluding the reds.

18. Etymology: From color, via colour (Early Anglo-Norman culur). The US spelling, which excludes the u, was chosen to conform to the word's Latin origin, and to make all derivatives consistent (colorimeter, colorize, colorless, etc; see below). Elsewhere in the English-speaking world, the u has been retained.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. COLOURnoun

   Etymology: color, Latin.

   1. The appearance of bodies to the eye only; hue; die.

   It is a vulgar idea of the colours of solid bodies, when we perceive them to be a red, or blue, or green tincture of the surface; but a philosophical idea, when we consider the various colours to be different sensations, excited in us by the refracted rays of light, reflected on our eyes in a different manner, according to the different size, or shape, or situation of the particles of which the surfaces of those bodies are composed. Isaac Watts, Logick.

   Her hair shall be of what colour it please God. William Shakespeare.

   For though our eyes can nought but colours see,
   Yet colours give them not their pow’r of sight. Davies.

   The lights of colours are more refrangible one than another in this order; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, deep violet. Isaac Newton, Opt. Exp. 7.

   2. The freshness; or appearance of blood in the face.

   My cheeks no longer did their colour boast. Dryden.

   A sudden horror seiz’d his giddy head,
   And his ears trickled, and his colour fled. Dryden.

   3. The tint of the painter.

   When each bold figure just begins to live,
   The treach’rous colours the fair art betray,
   And all the bright creation fades away. Alexander Pope, Ess. Crit.

   4. The representation of any thing superficially examined.

   Whose wisdom is only of this world, to put false colours upon things, to call good evil, and evil good, against the conviction of their own consciences. Jonathan Swift.

   5. Concealment; palliation; excuse; superficial cover.

   It is no matter if I do halt; I have the wars for my colour, and my pension shall seem the more reasonable. William Shakespeare, Hen. IV.

   Their sin admitted no colour or excuse. Charles I .

   6. Appearance; pretence; false shew.

   Under the colour of commending him,
   I have access my own love to prefer. William Shakespeare.

   Merchants came to Rhodes with a great ship laded with corn, under the colour of the sale whereof they noted all that was done in the city. Richard Knolles, History of the Turks.

   7. Kind; species; character.

   Boys and women are, for the most part, cattle of this colour. William Shakespeare, As you like it.

   8. In the plural, a standard; an ensign of war: they say the colours of the foot, and standard of horse.

   He at Venice gave
   His body to that pleasant country’s earth,
   And his pure soul unto his captain Christ,
   Under whose colours he had fought so long. William Shakespeare, Rich. II.

   Against all checks, rebukes, and manners,
   I must advance the colours of my love,
   And not retire. William Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor.

   The banks on both sides were filled with companies, passing all along the river under their colours, with trumpets sounding. Richard Knolles, History of the Turks.

   An author compares a ragged coin to a tattered colours. Addis.

2. To Colourverb

   Etymology: coloro, Latin.

   1. To mark with some hue, or die.

   The rays, to speak properly, are not coloured: in them there is nothing else than a certain power and disposition to stir up a sensation of this or that colour. Isaac Newton, Opt.

   2. To palliate; to excuse; to dress in specious colours, or fain appearances.

   I told him, that I would not favour or colour in any sort his former folly. Walter Raleigh, Essays.

   He colours the falshood of Æneas by an express command from Jupiter to forsake the queen. John Dryden, Æn. Dedic.

   3. To make plausible.

   We have scarce heard of an insurrection that was not coloured with grievances of the highest kind, or countenanced by one or more branches of the legislature. Joseph Addison, Freeholder.

   4. To Colour a stranger’s goods,is when a freeman allows a foreigner to enter goods at the customhouse in his name; so that the foreigner pays but single duty, when he ought to pay double. Phillips.

3. To Colourverb

   To blush. A low word, only used in conversation.

Wikipedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Colour

   Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are 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, colorimetry, or simply color science. It includes the perception of color by the human eye and brain, the origin of color in materials, color theory in art, and the physics of electromagnetic radiation in the visible range (that is, what is commonly referred to simply as light).

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Colournoun

   see Color

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Colour

   A colour is a name for certain kinds of flags. ⁕On land, it usually refers to regimental colours, but the term is also used outside military situations - for example, Boys Brigade as well as the Scout and Girl Guide flags are known as colours. ⁕At sea, the term "flying the colours" refers to a warship sailing on the high seas and flying its national ensign, thereby making its presence known to other naval powers.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Colour

   kul′ur, n. a property of light which causes bodies to have different appearances to the eye: the hue or appearance which bodies present to the eye: appearance of blood in the face: appearance: pretext: tint: paint: false show: kind: (pl.) a flag, ensign, or standard: paints.—v.t. to put colour on: to stain: to paint: to set in a fair light: to exaggerate: to misrepresent.—v.i. to show colour: to blush.—adjs. Colorif′ic, containing or producing colours; Col′ourable, having a fair appearance: designed to conceal.—adv. Col′ourably.—n. Colourā′tion.—adj. Col′our-blind, unable to distinguish between colours.—n. Col′our-blind′ness.—adjs. Col′oured, having colour: (Spens.) having a specious appearance, deceitful: of the complexion, other than white.—ns. Col′ouring, any substance used to give colour: manner of applying colours: specious appearance; Col′ourist, one who colours or paints: one who excels in colouring.—adj. Col′ourless, without colour: transparent: neutral.—ns. Col′ourman, one who prepares and sells colours; Col′our-ser′geant, the sergeant who guards the colours of a regiment.—adj. Col′oury, having much colour.—Colour a pipe, to cause a tobacco-pipe, esp. a meerschaum, to take on a brown or black colour, by smoking.—A person of colour, a person of negro blood.—Change colour, to turn pale: to blush; Come off with flying colours, to do something with great éclat; Come out in one's true colours, to appear in one's real character; Desert one's colours, to abandon one's post or duty; Fast colour, a colour which does not fade when washed; Fight under false colours, to put forward a false pretence as a cover for one's actions; Give colour, to give plausibility: Hang out false colours, to put up another's flag, to pretend to belong to another party than one really does; High colour, pronounced redness of complexion; Lose colour, to lose one's good looks; Nail one's colours to the mast, to commit one's self to some party or plan of action; Off colour, faded: past one's best; Paint in bright colours, to embellish: to exaggerate; Primary colours, the three colours, red, green, and violet, from which the others, called Secondary colours, can be obtained; Show one's colours, to show what are one's inclinations, opinions, or character; Stick to one's colours, to adhere to one's party or opinions; Under colour of, under the pretext of; Without colour, without disguise: colourless: without individuality. [Fr.,—L. color; akin to celāre, to cover, to conceal.]

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. colour

   A visual attribute of a person, people, plant, nature, or thing that results from the light emitted, transmitted or reflected.

   Colour is beautiful and looks amazing when a colour is painted with another.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on April 14, 2020  

2. ---

   colour

   Is the visual perceptual quality seen through the eyes of a human or animal derived from the spectrum of light visible in and through the eyes.

   Colours are vital for our perception of life, they bring so much joy.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on April 14, 2020  

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. colour

   Song lyrics by colour -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by colour on the Lyrics.com website.

2. colour

   Color vs. Colour -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Color and Colour.

Matched Categories

1. • Affect
   • Appearance
   • Change
   • Excuse
   • High-energy Physics
   • Interest
   • Kind
   • Timbre
   • Visual Property

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'colour' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #932

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'colour' in Written Corpus Frequency: #841

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'colour' in Nouns Frequency: #255

4. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'colour' in Verbs Frequency: #999

Anagrams for colour »

1. courol

How to pronounce colour?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say colour in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of colour in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of colour in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of colour in a Sentence

1. Feltham:

   He that would build lastingly must lay his foundation low. The proud man, like the early shoots of a new-felled coppice, thrusts out full of sap, green in leaves, and fresh in colour, but bruises and breaks with every wind, is nipped with every little cold, and, being top-heavy, is wholly unfit for use. Whereas the humble man retains it in the root, can abide the winter?s killing blast, the ruffling concussions of the wind, and can endure far more than that which appears so flourishing.

2. Henry Ford:

   People can have the Model T in any colour--so long as it's black.

3. Julien Crevaels:

   For me this picture could be a reminder of the absurdity, as I see it, of racism and the absurdity of such violence over the difference of colour.

4. Chris Yakymchuk:

   The presence of graphite also gives us more clues to determine how rubies formed at this location, something that is impossible to do directly based on a ruby's colour and chemical composition.

5. Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey:

   Let Africans remain good Africans and not a poor copy of Europeans. In the whole wide world, Africa my Africa came first. I'm proud of my colour whosoever is not proud of his colour is not fit to live. Only the best for Africa.

Popularity rank by frequency of use