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coloration

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Etymology and origin of the French word coloration

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1370 Guy de Chauliac, Grande Chirurgie More words from the 14th century
Ultimate origin
Latin color
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin color
French couleur
Italian colore
Spanish color
Romanian culoare
Latin colōrō
French coloration
English coloration
From the same root
Latin bicolor ← color
Latin concolor ← color
Latin dēcolor ← color
Latin discolor ← color
Latin versicolor ← color
Latin colōrātus ← colōrō

Pronunciation

  • /kɔ.lɔ.ʁa.sjɔ̃/[1]

Forms

coloration f (plural colorations)[1] Middle French also colouracion.[2]

Etymology

It is from French colorer + -ation.[3][4][5][6] The verb is from Latin colōrō, from color (“colour”).[7][8] Etymonline traces the word to Late Latin colōrātiō.[8] Littré compares Old Occitan coloratio, Spanish coloración and Italian colorazione.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1370 in the Grande Chirurgie of Guy de Chauliac.[3][6] In Middle French medicine it meant colour and, in particular, the complexion.[2]

Semantic evolution

The GLLF records a figurative sense “toning down, excuse” in 1460, and the present senses from the end of the 15th century.[10] Bloch and Wartburg date the word to the 15th century.[7] Cotgrave in 1611 glosses it “a colouring; a shadowing”.[11] It is now one of the commonest derivatives of colorer.[6] Hairdressing uses it for a dye job, and biology for staining a specimen for the microscope.[5][3] English took coloration from French in the 1620s.[8]

Timeline

  • 1370 – Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie has the word.[3]
  • 1460 – It means “toning down, excuse”.[10]
  • late 15th century – The current senses appear.[10]
  • 1611 – Cotgrave records coloration.[11]
  • 1620s – English borrows coloration.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of colouring; the state of something coloured: la coloration du ciel.[5][3][10]
  2. (hairdressing) A hair dye: elle s'est fait faire une coloration.[5]
  3. (biology) Staining with a dye for examination under a microscope.[3]
  4. (figurative) A particular tone or nuance, of a voice or a feeling.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
  3. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  11. ^ a b Cotgrave, Randle (1611), A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: Adam Islip

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Coloration.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/coloration. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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