Category:Color

Col"or, n. [Written also colour.] Etym: [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)

Defn: 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 asverred 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 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 regulary subdiveded, 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.

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

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.

color Col"or, v. i.

Defn: To acquire color; to turn red, especially in the face; to blush.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Color - The subject of colors holds an important place in the Scriptures. White occurs as the translation of various Hebrew words. It is applied to milk (Genesis 49:12), manna (Exodus 16:31), snow (Isaiah 1:18), horses (Zechariah 1:8), raiment (Ecclesiastes 9:8). Another Hebrew word so rendered is applied to marble (Esther 1:6), and a cognate word to the lily (Song of Songs 2:16). A different term, meaning "dazzling," is applied to the countenance (Song of Songs 5:10). This color was an emblem of purity and innocence (Mark 16:5; John 20:12; Revelation 19:8, Revelation 19:14), of joy (Ecclesiastes 9:8), and also of victory (Zechariah 6:3; Revelation 6:2). The hangings of the tabernacle court (Exodus 27:9; Exodus 38:9), the coats, mitres, bonnets, and breeches of the priests (Exodus 39:27, Exodus 39:28), and the dress of the high priest on the day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:4, Leviticus 16:32), were white. Black, applied to the hair (Leviticus 13:31; Song of Songs 5:11), the complexion (Song of Songs 1:5), and to horses (Zechariah 6:2, Zechariah 6:6). The word rendered "brown" in Genesis 30:32 (R.V., "black") means properly "scorched", i.e., the color produced by the influence of the sun's rays. "Black" in Job 30:30 means dirty, blackened by sorrow and disease. The word is applied to a mourner's robes (Jeremiah 8:21; Jeremiah 14:2), to a clouded sky (1 Kings 18:45), to night (Micah 3:6; Jeremiah 4:28), and to a brook rendered turbid by melted snow (Job 6:16). It is used as symbolical of evil in Zechariah 6:2, Zechariah 6:6; Revelation 6:5. It was the emblem of mourning, affliction, calamity (Jeremiah 14:2; Lamentations 4:8; Lamentations 5:10). Red, applied to blood (2 Kings 3; 22), a heifer (Numbers 19:2), pottage of lentis (Genesis 25:30), a horse (Zechariah 1:8), wine (Proverbs 23:31), the complexion (Genesis 25:25; Song of Songs 5:10). This color is symbolical of bloodshed (Zechariah 6:2; Revelation 6:4; Revelation 12:3). Purple, a color obtained from the secretion of a species of shell-fish (the Murex trunculus) which was found in the Mediterranean, and particularly on the coasts of Phoenicia and Asia Minor. The coloring matter in each separate shell-fish amounted to only a single drop, and hence the great value of this dye. Robes of this color were worn by kings (Judges 8:26) and high officers (Esther 8:15). They were also worn by the wealthy and luxurious (Jeremiah 10:9; Ezekiel 27:7; Luke 16:19; Revelation 17:4). With this color was associated the idea of royalty and majesty (Judges 8:26; Song of Songs 3:10; Song of Songs 7:5; Daniel 5:7, Daniel 5:16, Daniel 5:29). Blue. This color was also procured from a species of shell-fish, the chelzon of the Hebrews, and the Helix ianthina of modern naturalists. The tint was emblematic of the sky, the deep dark hue of the Eastern sky. This color was used in the same way as purple. The ribbon and fringe of the Hebrew dress were of this color (Numbers 15:38). The loops of the curtains (Exodus 26:4), the lace of the high priest's breastplate, the robe of the ephod, and the lace on his mitre, were blue (Exodus 28:28, Exodus 28:31, Exodus 28:37). Scarlet, or Crimson. In Isaiah 1:18 a Hebrew word is used which denotes the worm or grub whence this dye was procured. In Genesis 38:28, Genesis 38:30, the word so rendered means "to shine," and expresses the brilliancy of the color. The small parasitic insects from which this dye was obtained somewhat resembled the cochineal which is found in Eastern countries. It is called by naturalists Coccus ilics. The dye was procured from the female grub alone. The only natural object to which this color is applied in Scripture is the lips, which are likened to a scarlet thread (Song of Songs 4:3). Scarlet robes were worn by the rich and luxurious (2 Samuel 1:24; Proverbs 31:21; Jeremiah 4:30; Revelation 17:4). It was also the hue of the warrior's dress (Nahum 2:3; Isaiah 9:5). The Phoenicians excelled in the art of dyeing this color (2 Chronicles 2:7). These four colors - white, purple, blue, and scarlet - were used in the textures of the tabernacle curtains (Exodus 26:1, Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:36), and also in the high priest's ephod, girdle, and breastplate (Exodus 28:5, Exodus 28:6, Exodus 28:8, Exodus 28:15). Scarlet thread is mentioned in connection with the rites of cleansing the leper (Leviticus 14:4, Leviticus 14:6, Leviticus 14:51) and of burning the red heifer (Numbers 19:6). It was a crimson thread that Rahab was to bind on her window as a sign that she was to be saved alive (Joshua 2:18; Joshua 6:25) when the city of Jericho was taken. Vermilion, the red sulphuret of mercury, or cinnabar; a color used for drawing the figures of idols on the walls of temples (Ezekiel 23:14), or for decorating the walls and beams of houses (Jeremiah 22:14).