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coloración

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word coloración

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1495 Spanish translation of Gordonio's Lilio de medicina More words from the 15th century
Ultimate origin
Latin colōrō

Pronunciation

  • /koloɾaˈθjon/, [ko.lo.ɾaˈθjõn], /koloɾaˈsjon/[1]

Forms

coloración f (plural coloraciones)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish colorar + -ción, the Academy's dictionaries say.[2][3] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of the verb, which he dates to 1330.[4] The DLE derives the verb from Latin colōrō (“to colour”), itself from color (“colour”).[5][1] Autoridades traced the Spanish noun straight to the Latin one.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in medical translations of the late 15th century: the Spanish Lilio de medicina of Gordonio, in a manuscript of 1495, speaks of the coloración of the eye, and the 1498 translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery of an ugly coloracion of the teeth.[7]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades took it as a term of painting: the colouring laid on canvas, wood or metal, quoting the Espejo de la vida humana on silversmiths' gildings and colourings.[6] Terreros sent the reader to colorido for this sense.[8] The Academy's 1899 edition defined it as the act of colouring a painting and added two obsolete senses, the flush that comes to the face and, figuratively, a pretext.[3]

In the 19th century the word became common in the sciences, for the colour of glass beads in mineral analysis and the colours tempering gives to iron.[7] Today it means the act of colouring, the set and tone of the colours of a thing or animal, and figuratively the particular character of something.[9][10][11] In medicine it is also a synonym of tinción “staining”.[12]

Timeline

  • 1495 – the Spanish Lilio de medicina uses it of the colour of the eye.[7]
  • 1498 – the Spanish translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery.[7]
  • 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines it as colouring in painting.[6]
  • 1853 – used for the colouring of borax glass in a treatise on mineral assaying.[7]
  • 1899 – the Academy adds the obsolete senses “blush” and “pretext”.[3]
  • 1930 – an Ecuadorian text speaks of the rare coloración of a flower.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act or result of colouring something (colorar); coloration.[9][10][1]
  2. The colours of a thing or animal taken together, with their tone and intensity: El plumaje de este pájaro tiene una coloración muy viva.[10][11]
  3. (figurative) The particular character or tone of something: la coloración política de un discurso.[10][11]
  4. (medicine) staining of cells or tissues; the colour a tissue shows.[12]
  5. (obsolete) A blush, the colour rising to the face.[9]
  6. (obsolete) A pretext or motive.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. coloración
  3. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 241
  4. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. color
  5. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. colorar
  6. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. coloración
  7. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. coloración
  8. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 1, 463
  9. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. coloración
  10. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. coloración
  11. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. coloración
  12. ^ a b Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. coloración
  13. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. coloración
Cite this entry

“Coloración.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/coloraci%C3%B3n. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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