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decoloro

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word decoloro

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
65–8 BC Horace, Odes More words from the 1st century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin dēcolor
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin color
French couleur
Italian colore
Spanish color
Romanian culoare
Latin dēcolor
Latin dēcolōrō
From the same root
Latin bicolor ← color
Latin colōrō ← color
Latin concolor ← color
Latin discolor ← color
Latin versicolor ← color

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deː.kɔˈɫoː.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [de.koˈlɔː.ro][1]

Forms

dēcolōrō (present infinitive dēcolōrāre, perfect active dēcolōrāvī, supine dēcolōrātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin dēcolor + -ō, from the adjective meaning “discoloured”.[2][3] That adjective is dē- with color (“colour”),[1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-ōs (“cover, covering”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is in the Rhetorica ad Herennium, of a dead body discoloured by swelling and bruising.[2][5] Horace asks in the Odes which sea Daunian slaughter has not discoloured: quod mare Dauniae non decoloravere caedes?[6][5]

Semantic evolution

The verb meant to take away a thing's natural colour, whether by paling, reddening or darkening it.[3][6] Celsus used it of pallor on the lips and nose and of skin discoloured by abscesses, and Columella of olives turning from white to yellow.[6][3] Seneca distinguished it from a change of colour: a thing is decolorated when its colour is spoiled, not changed.[6] The Vulgate has decoloravit me sol, “the sun has discoloured me”.[6]

Figuratively it meant to tarnish, corrupt or disgrace, of a son in a declamation cited under Quintilian's name, of a person in Justinian's Code, and of a reputation in Capitolinus.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 65–8 BC – Horace writes of seas discoloured by slaughter.[6][5][7]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of pallor and of skin discoloured by abscesses.[6][3][7]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has decoloravit me sol.[6][7]
  • 528–534 AD – Justinian's Code uses it of disgracing a person.[6][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To alter the natural colour of, discolour, stain.[2][6]
  2. To bring shame upon, disgrace; to tarnish, corrupt.[2][6][1]

Word family

  • dēcolōrātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Decoloro.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/decoloro. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·