Etymologically
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color

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔ.ɫɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔː.lor][1]

Forms

color m (genitive colōris); third declension[1] The old nominative is colōs, in Plautus, Lucretius and Sallust.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kelōs- (“outside, aspect”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-ōs (“cover, covering”), an animate collective of an s-stem of Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”).[2] Cognate with Sanskrit शरस् (śáras-, “skin on milk”) and Old High German hulsa (“hull, husk”).[2][3] Lewis & Short and Georges connected it with occulō “to hide” and cēlō “to conceal”.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses the form colōs.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was the colour of a thing, a pigment or dye, the complexion of the face, and the colour of wine or fruit as a sign of ripeness.[3][7] From this it came to mean outward appearance, the character or tone of a style or of a life, as Horace's “whatever the colour of my life”.[3][1]

In medieval Latin it had uses in natural science, alchemy and music.[8] It survives as Italian colore, French couleur, Spanish color and Romanian culoare.[1] English colour is recorded in the early 13th century as “complexion”.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses colōs.[3][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of the colour of his life.[3][6]
  • early 13th century – English colour is recorded, through Anglo-French.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Colour, hue.[3][4]
  2. A pigment, dye.[3][1]
  3. Complexion.[3][1]
  4. Outward appearance.[1]
  5. Character, tone, style.[3]

Word family

  • bicolor
  • colōrō
  • incolor
  • lignicolor

Usage notes

Isidore lists the colours to look for in a horse: bay, golden, rose and others.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).