adj · noun · verb · 49 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
kŭlʹəUK, etc
/ˈkʌl.ə/UK, etc
rhymes with -ʌlə(ɹ)
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈkʌl.ə(ɹ)/
Southern-England:[ˈkhʌl.ə(ɹ)]
Northern-Ireland, Scotland:[ˈkʌləɹ]
Australian, New-Zealand:[ˈkhɐɫ.ɐ]
South-Asia:[ˈkɐl.ɐ(ɾ)]
General-American:kŭlʹər
General-American:/ˈkʌl.ɚ/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Ireland, Northern-England:ko͝olʹər
Ireland, Northern-England:/ˈkʊl.ə(ɹ)/
/ˈkʊl.ɚ/Dublin
/ˈkʊlɐ/Dublin
homophone: culler (most accents)
CMU ARPABET:K AH1 L ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:K AO1 L ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Conveying color, as opposed to shades of gray.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, not-comparable
Examples
Color television and movies were considered a great improvement over black and white.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The spectral composition of visible light.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
Humans and birds can perceive color.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: blee
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A subset thereof:
A particular set of visible spectral compositions, perceived or named as a class.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Examples
Most languages have names for the colors black, white, red, and green.
What color are your bf's eyes?
We should paint the wall another color.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: hue, blee
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A subset thereof:
Hue as opposed to achromatic colors (black, white and grays).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
The accident victim's face was white, drained of all color.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: hue, shade, blee
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A subset thereof:
These hues as used in color television or films, color photographs, etc (as opposed to the shades of grey used in black-and-white television).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
This film is broadcast in color. Most people dream in color, but some dream in black and white.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: color television
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
A subset thereof:
Any of the standard dark tinctures used in a coat of arms, including azure, gules, sable, and vert.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
18
noun
Meaning 18
A third-order measure of derivative price sensitivity, expressed as the rate of change of gamma with respect to time, or equivalently the rate of change of charm with respect to changes in the underlying asset price.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: business, finance
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
19
noun
Meaning 19
The relative lightness or darkness of a mass of written or printed text on a page. (See type color on Wikipedia.Wikipedia )
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: media, publishing, typography
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
20
noun
Meaning 20
Any of the colored balls excluding the reds.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
21
noun
Meaning 21
A front or facade; an ostensible truth actually false; pretext.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
22
noun
Meaning 22
An appearance of right or authority; color of law.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
Under color of law, he managed to bilk taxpayers of millions of dollars.
They held possession under color of title.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
23
noun
Meaning 23
Gold, particles of gold found when prospecting.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: business, mining
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
24
noun
Meaning 24
To bleed, either through injury or blading. Usually prefaced with "get".
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, slang, uncountable
Topics: government, hobbies, lifestyle, martial-arts, military, politics, professional-wrestling, sports, war, wrestling
Examples
The local hero is getting color in tonight's spectacle.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
25
noun
Meaning 25
Timbre, often in relation to orchestration.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
26
noun
Meaning 26
The quality of a particular vowel sound.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
27
verb
Meaning 27
To give something color.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, transitive
Examples
We could color the walls red.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dye, paint, stain, shade, tinge, tint
Antonyms: none provided
28
verb
Meaning 28
To give something color.
To cause (a pipe, especially a meerschaum) to take on a brown or black color, by smoking.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dye, paint, stain, shade, tinge, tint
Antonyms: none provided
29
verb
Meaning 29
To apply colors to the areas within the boundaries of a line drawing using colored markers or crayons.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, intransitive
Examples
My kindergartener loves to color.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: color in
Antonyms: none provided
30
verb
Meaning 30
To become red through increased blood flow.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US
Examples
Her face colored as she realized her mistake.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: blush
Antonyms: none provided
31
verb
Meaning 31
To affect without completely changing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US
Examples
That interpretation certainly colors my perception of the book.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: affect, influence
Antonyms: none provided
32
verb
Meaning 32
To attribute a quality to; to portray (as).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, informal
Examples
Color me confused.
They tried to colour the industrial unrest as a merely local matter.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: call
Antonyms: none provided
33
verb
Meaning 33
To assign colors to the vertices of a graph (or the regions of a map) so that no two vertices connected by an edge (regions sharing a border) have the same color.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US
Topics: graph-theory, mathematics, sciences
Examples
Can this graph be 2-colored?
You can color any map with four colors.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
34
verb
Meaning 34
To affect the quality of a speech sound, especially a vowel.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, usually
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
Examples
Many languages have a "neutral", roughly central vowel like /a/ or /ə/ which can be colored to a back, rounded vowel like [o] by an adjacent labialized consonant, or to a front, unrounded vowel like [e] by an adjacent palatalized consonant.
The Proto-Indo-European laryngeal *h2 often colors the neutral vowel *e with an a-like quality, while *h3 results in a more o-like quality; *h1 has no coloring effect.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
35
adjective
Meaning 35
having or capable of producing colors
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
color film
he rented a color television
marvelous color illustrations
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: colour
Antonyms: black-and-white
36
noun
Meaning 36
the appearance of objects (or light sources) described in terms of a person's perception of their hue and lightness (or brightness) and saturation
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: colour
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: appearance, visual aspect
37
noun
Meaning 37
an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
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
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: semblance, gloss, colour
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: appearance, visual aspect
Narrower terms: color of law, colour of law, simulacrum, face value, guise, pretense, pretence, pretext, disguise, camouflage, verisimilitude
38
noun
Meaning 38
a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
a white color is made up of many different wavelengths of light
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *-ōs Proto-Indo-European *ḱélōs Proto-Italic *kelōs Old Latin colōs Latin color Old French color Anglo-Norman colurbor. Middle English colour English color From Middle English colour, color, borrowed from Anglo-Norman colur, from Old French colour, color, from Latin color. Doublet of couleur. Largely displaced English blee, Middle English blee (“color”), from Old English blēo. Also partially replaced Old English hīew (“color”) and its descendants (English hue), which is less often used in this sense. The spelling color was popularized in modern American English by Noah Webster, to match the spelling of the word's Latin etymon, and make all American spellings of the derivatives consistent (colorimeter, coloration, colorize, colorless, etc).
Across languages
Translations
652 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
цветен
(cveten)
— conveying color
Chinese Mandarin:
彩色
(cǎisè)
— conveying color
Danish:
farve-
— conveying color
French:
en couleur
— conveying color
Greek:
έγχρωμος
(énchromos)
— conveying color
Greek:
χρωματικός
(chromatikós)
— conveying color
Hebrew:
צבעוני
(tziv'ony)
— conveying color
Hebrew:
צבעונית
(tziv'onyt)
— conveying color
Hungarian:
színes
— conveying color
Japanese:
カラーの
(karā-no)
— conveying color
Korean:
띤
(ttin)
— conveying color
Polish:
kolorowy
— conveying color
Portuguese:
de cor
— conveying color
Russian:
цветно́й
(cvetnój)
— conveying color
Spanish:
en color
— conveying color
Swedish:
färg-
— conveying color
Abkhaz:
аԥштәы
(apŝtwʼə)
— spectral composition of visible light
Afrikaans:
kleur
— spectral composition of visible light
Albanian:
ngjyrë
— spectral composition of visible light
Albanian:
larë
— spectral composition of visible light
Southern Altai:
ӧҥ
(öŋ)
— spectral composition of visible light
Amharic:
ቀለም
(ḳäläm)
— spectral composition of visible light
Arabic:
لَوْن
(lawn)
— spectral composition of visible light
Chadian Arabic:
لون
(lōn)
— spectral composition of visible light
Arabic:
لون
(lōn)
— spectral composition of visible light
Arabic:
ألوان
(ʔalwān)
— spectral composition of visible light
Arabic:
ألوانات
(ʔalwanāt)
— spectral composition of visible light
Arabic:
لون
(lon)
— spectral composition of visible light
Arabic:
رنق
(rəng)
— spectral composition of visible light
Arabic:
لون
(lōn)
— spectral composition of visible light
Arabic:
لون
(lūn)
— spectral composition of visible light
Aragonese:
color
— spectral composition of visible light
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic:
ܓܲܘܢܵܐ
(gawnā)
— spectral composition of visible light
Aramaic:
ܓܘܢܐ
(gawnā)
— spectral composition of visible light
Archi:
ранг
(rang)
— spectral composition of visible light
Armenian:
գույն
(guyn)
— spectral composition of visible light
Aromanian:
boie
— spectral composition of visible light
Aromanian:
rengã
— spectral composition of visible light
Assamese:
ৰং
(roṅ)
— spectral composition of visible light
Assamese:
বৰণ
(boron)
— spectral composition of visible light
Asturian:
color
— spectral composition of visible light
Aymara:
sami
— spectral composition of visible light
Azerbaijani:
rəng
— spectral composition of visible light
Bashkir:
төҫ
(töś)
— spectral composition of visible light
Basque:
kolore
— spectral composition of visible light
Belarusian:
ко́лер
(kóljer)
— spectral composition of visible light
Belarusian:
фа́рба
(fárba)
— spectral composition of visible light
Belarusian:
хва́рба
(xvárba)
— spectral composition of visible light
Belarusian:
ба́рва
(bárva)
— spectral composition of visible light
Bengali:
রঙ
(roṅ)
— spectral composition of visible light
Bengali:
রং
(roṅ)
— spectral composition of visible light
Bengali:
বর্ণ
(borno)
— spectral composition of visible light
Bhojpuri:
रंग
(raṅg)
— spectral composition of visible light
Binukid:
babelek
— spectral composition of visible light
Bislama:
kala
— spectral composition of visible light
Breton:
liv
— spectral composition of visible light
Bulgarian:
цвят
(cvjat)
— spectral composition of visible light
Burmese:
အရောင်
(a.raung)
— spectral composition of visible light
Buryat:
үнгэ
(ünge)
— spectral composition of visible light
Carpathian Rusyn:
фа́рба
(fárba)
— spectral composition of visible light
Catalan:
color
— spectral composition of visible light
Cebuano:
kolor
— spectral composition of visible light
Chechen:
бос
(bos)
— spectral composition of visible light
Cherokee:
ᏗᎧᏃᏗ
(dikanodi)
— spectral composition of visible light
Chickasaw:
kala'
— spectral composition of visible light
Chinese Cantonese:
色
(sik1)
— spectral composition of visible light
Chinese Cantonese:
顏色 /颜色
(ngaan4 sik1)
— spectral composition of visible light
Chinese:
янсый
(iansɨy)
— spectral composition of visible light
Eastern Min Chinese:
色
(sáik)
— spectral composition of visible light
Eastern Min Chinese:
顏色 /颜色
(ngàng-sáik)
— spectral composition of visible light
Hakka Chinese:
色
(set)
— spectral composition of visible light
