yellow English · revision 3906

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 700|origins=ine-pro *ghel-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈjel.əʊ/, US /ˈjel.oʊ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|yelwe]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|ġeolu]], geolwe,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*gelwaz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source also of Old Saxon and Old High German gelo, Dutch geel, German gelb and Old Norse gulr.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It goes back to [[ine-pro|*ghel-|t=to shine]], with derivatives denoting green and yellow,^(Etymonline) such as Greek khlōros “greenish yellow” and Latin helvus “yellowish, bay”;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Barnhart adds Lithuanian želvas and Sanskrit hári- “yellowish”.^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[gold]], [[gall]] and [[yolk]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of the colour of gold, butter or egg yolk: about 700 in the OED;^(OED 1989) Old English geolu appears in Beowulf (about 725).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Like other colour words, its root probably covered a wider range of colours than the modern word.^(Cresswell 2021) In Middle English it was also used of a blue-grey or grey colour, of frogs or hazel eyes, to translate Latin caeruleus,^(Etymonline) and of the complexion in age or disease.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) From the 14th century yellow, rather than green, could be the colour of jealousy,^(Cresswell 2021) and the OED has “jealous” from 1602.^(OED 1989) “Cowardly” is attested by 1856, first American, of unknown origin;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''yellow-bellied'' is from 1924.^(Etymonline) ''Yellow press'', sensational journalism, is 19th-century.^(Hoad 1986) It was applied to people of Asian origin by 1787,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) a use now offensive, and ''yellow peril'' translates German die gelbe Gefahr.^(Etymonline) The verb, Old English geoluwian “to become yellow”, became transitive in the 1590s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – the colour.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1000 – of the complexion in age or disease.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1598 – verb, to make yellow.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1602 – jealous.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1787 – of Asian people.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1856 – cowardly.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1924 – ''yellow-bellied''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the colour of ripe lemons or sunflowers.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(offensive)'' Of a yellowish or light brown skin colour, or of Asian origin.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' Cowardly.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of journalism, [[sensational]] and unscrupulous.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[colour]] between orange and green in the [[spectrum]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The yolk of an egg.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Something yellow in colour.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become yellow.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[yellowness]]

+ * [[yellowish]]

+ * [[yellowly]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gold]]

+ * [[gall]]

+ * [[yolk]]

+ * [[chlorine]]

+ * [[melancholy]]

+ * [[jaundice]]

+ * [[yell]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A rare 17th-century verb ''yellow'', “to yelp, bellow”, is an extension of [[yell]].^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}