What is "color"

Color \Col"or\, v. i. To acquire color; to turn red, especially in the face; to blush.

Color \Col"or\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Colored; p. pr. & vb. n. Coloring.] [F. colorer.]

1. To change or alter the hue or tint of, by dyeing, staining, painting, etc.; to dye; to tinge; to paint; 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 [AE]neas 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.

Color \Col"or\ (k[u^]l"[~e]r), n. [Written also colour.] [OF. color, colur, colour, F. couleur, L. color; prob. akin to celare to conceal (the color taken as that which covers). See Helmet.]

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.

   Note: 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.

   Note: Color is express when it is averred in the pleading, and implied when it is implied in the pleading.

   Body color. See under Body.

   Color blindness, total or partial inability to distinguish or recognize colors. See Daltonism.

   Complementary color, one of two colors so related to each other that when blended together they produce white light; -- so called because each color makes up to the other what it lacks to make it white. Artificial or pigment colors, when mixed, produce effects differing from those of the primary colors, in consequence of partial absorption.

   Of color (as persons, races, etc.), not of the white race; -- commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed.

   Primary colors, those developed from the solar beam by the prism, viz., red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, which are reduced by some authors to three, -- red, green, and violet-blue. These three are sometimes called fundamental colors.

   Subjective color or Accidental color, a false or spurious color seen in some instances, owing to the persistence of the luminous impression upon the retina, and a gradual change of its character, as where a wheel perfectly white, and with a circumference regularly subdivided, is made to revolve rapidly over a dark object, the teeth of the wheel appear to the eye of different shades of color varying with the rapidity of rotation. See Accidental colors, under Accidental.

early 13c., "skin color, complexion," from Old French color "color, complexion, appearance" (Modern French couleur), from Latin color "color of the skin; color in general, hue; appearance," from Old Latin colos, originally "a covering" (akin to celare "to hide, conceal"), from PIE root *kel- (2) "to cover, conceal" (see cell).\n

\nFor sense evolution, compare Sanskrit varnah "covering, color," related to vrnoti "covers," and also see chroma. Meaning "visible color, color of something" is attested in English from c.1300. As "color as a property of things," from late 14c. Old English words for "color" were hiw ("hue"), bleo.

late 14c.; see color (n.); earliest use is figurative. Related: Colored; coloring.

1. Conveying color, as opposed to shades of gray. n. 1 (context uncountable English) The spectral composition of visible light 2 (context countable English) A particular set of visible spectral compositions, perceived or named as a class. 3 (context uncountable English) hue as opposed to achromatic colors (black, white and grays). 4 (context uncountable English) Human skin tone, especially as an indicator of race or ethnicity. 5 (context figuratively English) interest, especially in a selective area. 6 (context heraldry English) Any of the standard dark tinctures used in a coat of arms, including azure, gules, sable, and vert. Contrast with metal. 7 (context in the plural English) A standard or banner. 8 The system of color television. 9 (context in the plural English) An award for sporting achievement, particularly within a school or university. 10 In corporate finance, details on sales, profit margins, or other financial figures, especially while reviewing quarterly results when an officer of a company is speaking to investment analysts. 11 (context physics English) A property of quarks, with three values called red, green, and blue, which they can exchange by passing gluons. 12 (context typography English) The relative lightness or darkness of a mass of written or printed text on a page. 13 (context snooker English) Any of the colored balls excluding the reds. 14 A front or facade: an ostensible truth actually false. 15 An appearance of right or authority. 16 (context medicine English) Skin color noted as: normal, jaundice, cyanotic, flush, mottled, pale, or ashen as part of the skin signs assessment. v

2. 1 To give something color. 2 (context intransitive English) To apply colors to the areas within the boundaries of a line drawing using colored markers or crayons. 3 (context of a face English) To become red through increased blood flow. 4 To affect without completely changing. 5 (context informal English) To attribute a quality to. 6 (context mathematics English) To assign colors to the vertex of (a graph) or the regions of (a map) so that no two adjacent ones have the same color.

adj. having or capable of producing colors; "color film"; "he rented a color television"; "marvelous color illustrations" [syn: colour] [ant: black-and-white]

1. n. 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" [syn: colour, coloring, colouring] [ant: colorlessness]

2. interest and variety and intensity; "the Puritan Period was lacking in color" [syn: colour, vividness]

3. the timbre of a musical sound; "the recording fails to capture the true color of the original music" [syn: colour, coloration, colouration]

4. a race with skin pigmentation different from the white race (especially Blacks) [syn: colour, people of color, people of colour]

5. 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" [syn: semblance, gloss, colour]

6. any material used for its color; "she used a different color for the trim" [syn: coloring material, colouring material, colour]

7. (physics) the characteristic of quarks that determines their role in the strong interaction; each flavor of quarks comes in three colors [syn: colour]

8. the appearance of objects (or light sources) described in terms of a person's perception of their hue and lightness (or brightness) and saturation [syn: colour]

1. v. add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" [syn: colorize, colorise, colourise, colourize, colour, color in, colour in] [ant: discolor]

2. affect as in thought or feeling; "My personal feelings color my judgment in this case"; "The sadness tinged his life" [syn: tinge, colour, distort]

3. modify or bias; "His political ideas color his lectures" [syn: colour]

4. decorate with colors; "color the walls with paint in warm tones" [syn: colour, emblazon]

5. gloss or excuse; "color a lie" [syn: colour, gloss]

6. change color, often in an undesired manner; "The shirts discolored" [syn: discolor, discolour, colour]

Color is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue, etc.

Color or colour may also refer to:

In United States law, the term color of law denotes the "mere semblance of legal right", the "pretense or appearance of" right; hence, an action done under color of law colors (adjusts) the law to the circumstance, yet said apparently legal action contravenes the law. Under color of authority is a legal phrase used in the US indicating that a person is claiming or implying the acts he or she is committing are related to and legitimized by his or her role as an agent of governmental power, especially if the acts are unlawful.

Color (stylized as COLOR) was a Japanese punk band formed in 1985 by Dynamite Tommy, who founded the Free-Will record label a year later. They are considered to be important to the formation of visual kei. Their debut album Gekitotsu was named one of the top albums from 1989-1998 in a 2004 issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze.

Color ( American English) or colour ( Commonwealth English) is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, blue, yellow, etc. Color derives from the spectrum of light (distribution of light power versus wavelength) 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, 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 we commonly refer to simply as light).

Color was a professional color grading software application produced by Apple Inc. for their Mac OS X operating system. It is one of the major applications included as part of Apple's Final Cut Studio 3 video production suite. It was discontinued with the release of Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, and Compressor 4. The application was originally called FinalTouch and was developed by Silicon Color, until the company was acquired by Apple in October 2006.

Motion picture images often look whitewashed or grayed out when scanned directly off of the negative during telecine. One basic purpose of "Color" is to add the vibrancy and richness of color back to the video once it is transferred to a digital format, normally for further editing.

Color 1.5 was introduced on July 23, 2009 along with the new Final Cut Studio 11.5.

In medieval music theory, the terms color and coloration are used in four distinct senses, two of which relate to the notation and structuring of note durations, the third to florid ornamentation, and the fourth to the quality of chromatic music.

Color is the third studio album by Japanese group NEWS, released on November 19, 2008. The album was released in a limited edition and regular edition. The regular edition comes with a bonus track. The album debuted at the number-one spot on the Oricon chart, making Color their third consecutive number-one album.

is a Japanese manga anthology written and illustrated by Taishi Zaou and Eiki Eiki. Color was serialized in Dear+, a magazine known for its romantic and non-explicit boys love manga published by Shinshokan, and a tankōbon collecting the chapters released in February 1999. Color is licensed in North America by Digital Manga Publishing which released the manga in June 2009. It is licensed in France by Asuka and in Germany by Egmont Manga.

Color is the second EP by Japanese visual kei band, Girugamesh, released on July 7, 2010.