Paterson J. A Dictionary of Colour - A Lexicon of the Language of Colour (анг. яз.)
Подождите немного. Документ загружается.
3INTRODUCTION
In advertising and marketing, colour is used to grab our attention and to stimulate
us by reference to the many psychological and physiological responses to colour,
as well as the appeal which colour provides for our emotions. We all instinctively
appreciate the dimension which colour can bring to product packaging and which
it is difficult to create by any other means. Colour can serve to reinforce the identity
of products, trademarks, logos and brand images and to create pleasing or
favourable associations in the minds of consumers.
Colours are used to indicate those prisoners who are considered prone to escape;
to differentiate one team from another in all manner of sporting activities; to enable
us to play snooker and card games. Colour is used as a means of indicating status
– for example, purple for nobility – and colour has throughout time served as a
potent source of symbolism in all cultures.
In short, colour is a powerful shorthand for conveying ideas and information.
In deciding on the parameters of this work it soon became apparent to me that
I could not limit myself merely to words which indicate or touch upon colour.
Colour cannot exist without light. Hence, I have incorporated all the words I can
find which refer to light or illumination. That, of course, naturally leads onto words
of darkness and to words of shadow and obscurity, and thence to words indicating
markings or patterns, all of which I have sought to include. I have, however, stopped
short of including entries for animals, plants and flowers whose names include
a colour since there are too many of these. I have also held back from including
the plethora of fancy names created by paint manufacturers and others. Almost
all the colours in this vocabulary can be found in English dictionaries.
The extent to which colour occupies and influences us can be illustrated by
reference to the large number of common phrases referring to colour used in
daily speech, many of which are included in Appendix one.
I would hope that this work might also be used as a resource for wordsmiths,
crossword addicts and word game aficionados for whom Appendix two and
Appendix three with their lists of colours may prove useful. The Times Crossword
of Friday 22 October 1999, for example, had two consecutive clues:
• ‘Earthy colour of old church attracting note’; and
• ‘Red pigment in drops sprayed around house’.
Even the recognition that these clues indicate colourwords would not make it
easy to find the answers (ochre and rhodopsin).
4 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
This work also serves as an observer of the way colourwords are used in syntax.
Writers always need ideas and refreshment and it is hoped that this Dictionary
might help to provide that elusive spark of inspiration vital to keep the creative
process going, particularly for those writing on subjects such as art, design,
fashion, furnishings, make-up or gardening. Finding the precise colour adjective
where there are so many nuances, might be made easier by referring to the list
in Appendix three.
Colour is involved in everything we do during our working hours and even
invades our dreams. But what is colour? There have been many theories over
the centuries as to the exact nature of colour but none of them is adequate to
explain all aspects of what colour is. The position is further complicated by the
fact that the dynamics of surface colour are very different from those principles
governing coloured light.
Colour is the sensation resulting from the light of different wavelengths reaching
our eyes. The colour of any object is determined by the extent of the absorption
of photons by its atoms. A black object absorbs nearly all the light directed onto
it whereas a white object reflects most of that light. A coloured object reacts
selectively to light energy – it absorbs protons of some wavelengths and reflects
others. An object which is green in colour, for example, will absorb photons from
the red to yellow range of the spectrum and reflect (thus enabling us to detect
them) photons on the green to violet range. The selection process will depend
on the particular pigments contained in that object. Caretonoids, for example,
reflect long wavelengths and absorb short wavelengths, so as to produce an orange
or pinkish colour. Haemoglobin produces red. Anthocyanin produces the colour
of rhubarb and beetroot. Dyes and paints are based on this idea. Some dyes form
a new compound with the molecules of the subject matter they are being used
to colour.
It is my intention that this work with its panoply of colourwords will provide both
an instructive and an entertaining opportunity to appreciate the richness of colour
and its many diverse applications through the ages and across the disciplines.
The study of colour and colour theory involves reference to many fields of study.
A thorough investigation of the subject will involve an understanding of physics
and chemistry, biology, medicine, the art of healing, computer sciences,
mathematics, psychology, physiology, philosophy, literature, art; the history of
art, aesthetics, heraldry, lexicography and language. This short work refers in
some measure to each of these disciplines and many more, but concentrates on
the last of them in celebration of our magnificent language.
5INTRODUCTION
I owe a debt of gratitude to my wife Linda for her unswerving encouragement
and for indulging my obsession to write this Dictionary. My thanks also to Mark,
Emma and Odette Paterson, Robert Glick, Amanda Blakeley, Eddie Cohen and
Neill Ross for their enthusiasm and additional ideas.
Ian Paterson, April 2003
all
JOSEPH ADDISON (1672-1719)
speak
Colours
languages
6 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
References and abbreviations
Albers Josef Albers, ‘Interaction of Colour’ Yale University,
1975.
Ball Philip Ball, ‘Bright Earth. The Invention of Colour’,
Viking, 2001.
Chambers ‘Chambers English Dictionary’ W.R. Chambers and
Cambridge University Press, 7th Edition, 1988.
Fielding ‘A Dictionary of Colour’, 1854.
Gage A number of references to John Gage’s: ‘Colour and
Culture’ Thames and Hudson, 1993 and ‘Colour and
Meaning’, Thames and Hudson, 1999.
Maerz & Paul A. Maerz and M.R. Paul, ‘A Dictionary of Colour’, 3rd
Edition New York, McGraw Hill, 1953.
OED ‘The Oxford English Dictionary’, 2nd Edition, Oxford
University Press, CD Rom, 2002.
Partridge Eric Partridge, ‘Name into Word’, Secker and Warburg,
1949.
WWW or
‘World Wide Words http://worldwidewords.org, Editor Michael Quinion.
WW1 World War 1
WW2 World War 2
Obs. Obsolete
G Greek
L Latin
Blank
A
n aal
A red dye from the plant of the same name related to the madder plant (and a
useful word for word game players).
n abaiser
Ivory black.
n abozzo, abbozzo
An underpainting in one colour; a sketch.
c absinthe, absinth
The light green colour of the potent liqueur of the same name which was banned
in France in 1915 because of its effect on health and the performance of French
troops at the beginning of WW1. It continues to be banned in France and in the
US but is allowed in the UK where it has been imported since 1998. The liqueur
takes on a milky colour when water is added.
c acacia
A greyish or greenish yellow colour.
c academy blue
A mixture of viridian and ultramarine; a greenish blue.
8 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
9ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
c acajou
A reddish-brown from the mahogany of the same name.
n accent colours
Highlights; sharp colours.
n accessory pigments
Those pigments in blue-green algae which in photosynthesis transfer their energy
to chlorophyll.
n accidental colour
The after-image temporarily fixed on the retina also referred to as ‘subjective
colour’. When the eye concentrates on one colour and looks away the comple-
mentary colour often appears as a false or accidental colour.
n accidental light
A term used in painting to indicate any light source other than sunlight.
n acetate dye
A type of dye (also called disperse) developed for acrylic fabrics.
a acherontic
Gloomy or dark. Derived from Acheron which according to Homer was one of
the rivers of Hell – its waters having a deathly foreboding appearance. ‘Stygian’
(in reference to the infernal River Styx of Greek mythology) has a similar meaning.
a achlorophyllaceous
Colourless.
n achroglobin
A colourless pigment in some molluscs.
n achromate
A person who is unable to detect colour.
a achromatic
Free from colour, uncoloured, colourless. From the Greek
a- without and chroma-colour.
adjective a
adverb adv
a colour c
noun n
prefix pr
suffix su
verb vb
10 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
n achromatic colour
A colour, such as white, black or grey, which lacks hue. White, black and grey
are technically not regarded as colours having regard to the absence of hue.
a achromatistous
Colourless.
n achromatopsia, achromatopsy
The inability to see colours: a severe form of colour-blindness.
a achromic
Free from colour; without normal pigmentation. See achromatic.
a achromous
Colourless.
a achroous
Colourless – why should there be so many words to describe such a nondescript
condition when the English language is so impoverished in the variety of words
which describe colours?
n acid colours
Colorants such as chromotrope, chrome brown, chromogen, acid green and
alizarin yellow used as dyestuffs.
c acid-drop yellow
A medium yellow.
c acid green
A bright green.
a acid-washed
Describing fabric which has been bleached to give the appearance of being worn
or faded; particularly denim used for jeans – referred to as ‘distressed denim’.
Similar results can be obtained by other processes to produce fashion items
referred to as ‘stonewashed’, ‘bleached’, ‘prewashed’ or having an ‘antique look’.
c acid yellow
A medium yellow.
11ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
c acier
Steel-coloured; grey.
c Ackermann’s Green
A yellowish green.
c acorn brown
The brown colour of the acorn; also simply referred to as ‘acorn’.
c acridine yellow
A yellow coal-tar dye also used as an anti-bacterial agent.
n acritochromacy
Colour-blindness.
a acronichal
Occurring at sunset or twilight.
n acrylic
Water-based paint consisting of an emulsion with particles of plastic resin
suspended in water and pigment to provide colour. Acrylic paint dries rapidly
and is very durable. An alternative to watercolour and oil paint but less popular
than it was in the 1960’s and 70’s. The word derives from ACRYLate resIN which
is the binder used to hold the pigment together. Almost all acrylic paints are
synthetic. They include colours such as benzimidazolone orange, dioxazine
purple, indanthrene blue and quinacridone red.
n acyanoblepsia
The inability to see the colour blue.
c Adam blue
A greeny blue.
n additive colour
The result of mixing coloured light (as opposed to pigments such as paint and
ink) so that, for example, mixing red, green and blue (called ‘additive primaries’
or additive primary colours) in colour television broadcasting or on a colour
monitor will produce white light by the additive process. The process of mixing
light of two different colours always produces a result which is lighter than its
two forebears. See subtractive process.
12 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
n additive primary colours
Red, green and blue. See primary colours.
n adjacent colours
Colours which are next to each other on the colour wheel or on a painting or
design etc. The placement of two colours next to each other often results in both
hues taking on a different appearance so that, to take one example, red next to
yellow makes the red turn towards purple and the yellow appear green.
c adobe
Pinkish-red; probably so called after the sun-dried bricks of the same name used
in Latin American countries; also ‘adobe red’.
vb adorn; to
To decorate or beautify something often by means of colour. Synonyms include
decorate, beautify, grace, emblazon, embellish, ornament, deck, bedeck, enhance,
enrich, festoon, elaborate, dress, bedaub, beset, deck out, bedizen, trim, gild, trap
out, accoutre, prettify, spruce up, rig out, trick out, garnish, crown, paint, colour.
c Adrianople red
A red colour also called Turkey red.
a adularescent
Bluish. According to Stormonth’s English Dictionary 1884 – having the whitish
sheen of moonstone found on Mount Adula in Switzerland.
a adumbral
Shadowy.
n adumbration
Shading.
c adust
A scorched brown colour.
n advancing colours
Colours in the range of yellow to red which when applied to a surface make it
appear more prominent or as if it is advancing towards the viewer. See also
receding colours.