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A color term (or color name) is a word or phrase that refers to a specific color.
Typical human color vision is trichromatic, meaning it is based on a three-dimensional color gamut. rel: Three, Rule of three
English has 11 basic color terms: black, white red, green, yellow, blue, orange, punk, purple and gray. Other languages have between 2 and 12.
A useful litmus test involves replacing each of these basic terms with an approximation of other basic terms, e.g. replacing orange with red-yellow. If the approximation is jarring, the replaced term likely meets the requirement for being a basic color term.
Non-Hue Terms
Brightness, lightness, darkness, paleness (lack of saturation), deep (color depth), pure, bold, vivid, rich, pastel (high luminosities and low saturation), neon, fluorescent.
Non-Dimensional Terms
Glossy, metallic, iridescent, opacity
Abstract vs Descriptive
Color terms can be classified as such, though the distinction is unclear. Abstract - refer only to the color and etymological link is lost. In English, white, black, red, yellow, green, blue, brown, gray are abstract color terms. Descriptive - refer to an object or phenomenon. Salmon, rose, saffron, lilac, are descriptive in English.
The 11 basic color terms in English are abstract, three of them are arguably still describe things.
- Pink, originally derived from a type of flower called a pink.
The name Dianthus is from the Greek διόσανθος, a compound from the words Δῖος Dios (“of Zeus”) and ἄνθος anthos (“flower”), and was cited by the Greek botanist Theophrastus.[3] The colour pink may be named after the flower, coming from the frilled edge of the flowers: the verb “to pink” dates from the 14th century and means “to decorate with a perforated or punched pattern”. As is also demonstrated by the name of “pinking shears”, special scissors for cloth that create a zigzag or decorative edge that discourages fraying. Alternatively, “pink” may be derived from the Dutch “pinksteren” alluding to the season of flowering; “pinksteren” meaning “Pentecost” in Dutch. Thus the colour may be named after the flower, rather than the flower after the colour.
- Purple, originally referred to a dye, which took the name from Latina purpura which referred to the sea snail for which the dye was derived.
- Orange, previously called yellow-red in artists’ palettes. The fruit term pre-dates the color term, it comes from French orenge.
For Wittgenstein, in his work Remarks on Colour, any puzzles about color and color terms can only be resolved through attention to the language games involved. He stated that our description of colors are neither fully empirical nor a priori. Statements such as “there cannot be a reddish green” are taken as a part of a logical structure akin to geometry, institing that color-related terms and propositions are rooted in our language practices
Color Significance Across Cultures
- Red
- In India a married woman can be identified with red henna on her hands and a sindoor worn along her hairline.
- Thailand: Red is the color for Sundays and linked with the solar god.
- Yellow
- In France, in the 10th century, the French painted the doors of traitors and criminals Yellow.
- Egyptians would paint mummies yellow, and the tombs of the deceased before being sent to the afterlife.
- Blue
- English language: a feeling of melancholy
- US: A number of banks used blue to signify trust, security and authority.
- Middle East: Blue signifies safety and protection and is a symbol of heaven.
- Virgin Mary is traditionally portrayed in Blue.
Mary the Color Scientist
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