OF COLOR.
1. The Theory of Colors.
The light of the sun is naturally white; but by means of a piece of glass in the form of a triangular prism, the white light of the sun can be decomposed into seven different kinds of colored rays; namely, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. These, according to Newton, are the primary colors, and all other colors and shades of color may be produced by combining these primary colors in due proportions.
Some recent philosophers, however, hold that there are but three primary colors; namely, red, yellow, and blue; for orange can be produced by combining red and yellow; green, by combining yellow and blue; violet, by combining red and blue; and indigo is regarded as being but a modification of blue.
Bodies have in themselves, no color whatever; but their apparent color depends upon the color of the rays which they reflect. If a body reflect all the rays of solar light, its color will seem to be white. If the body absorb all the rays and reflect none, its seeming color will be black. White is, therefore, the union, in due proportion, of all the primary colors, and black is the absence of all. If a body absorb all the rays of sunlight except the red, and reflect the latter, the seeming color of the body will be red. If the yellow rays alone be reflected, the body will seem to be yellow. If the red and the yellow rays be both reflected, while the rest are absorbed, the resulting color will be orange, which is, as stated above, a combination of red and yellow.
The Prismatic Colors are those into which white light is decomposed by means of the prism.
A Hue is some specific color.
A Shade is a degree of any color.
A Cast, Tinge, or Tincture is a slight degree of some color.
A Tint is a slight superadded coloring distinct from the GROUND, or principal color.
2. The various designations of Color.
White is the combination of all the prismatic colors.
Hoar, white; as, hoar frost.
Hoary, white; as, hoary hairs.
Candeo, to be white. (L.) Hence
Candent, white with heat.
Candy, primarily and properly, refined sugar, from its whiteness.
Candor, a disposition to treat subjects with fairness, this disposition from its peculiar excellence, having been called by a name which signifies pure whiteness.
Candidate, an applicant for office, so called, because in Ancient Rome aspirants for public offices were arrayed in white garments.
Incandescence, a glowing whiteness caused by intense heat.
Blanc, white. (Fr.) Hence,
Blank, not written upon, because the common color of paper previous to its being written upon, is white.
A Blank.—1. A void (or white) space on paper. 2. A paper with vacant (or white) spaces left to be filled.
Albus, white. (L.) Hence,
Album, a book originally blank, in which friends insert pieces as memorials.
Albumen—1. The white of an egg. 2. A substance resembling the white of an egg, and forming a constituent part both of the animal fluids and solids.
Albino, a white person belonging to a race of blacks.
Black, is the absence of all color.
Ater, black. (L.) Hence,
Atrabilarian, affected with melancholy, which the ancients attributed to a black bile. (L. bilis, bile.)
Atramental, black like ink. (atramentum, ink.)
ΜΕΛΑΝ [Melan], black. Gr.) Hence
Melancholy, mental gloom; thus called, because the Ancients supposed that mental gloom was owing to the existence of black bile in the system χολη [chole], bile.
Gray is a mixture of white and black, as when white and black hairs are mingled on the human head.
Grizzly, somewhat gray, as the grizzly bear.
A Spot is a portion of a surface of a different color from the surrounding portions.
A Speck is a small spot.
A Streak is a long, narrow space of a different color from the ground.
A Stripe is a straight streak of uniform width.
A Vein is a streak running through the substance of a solid body.
A Cloud is an irregular space marked by a blending of the ground with other colors.
Spotted, marked with spots.
Speckled, marked with specks.
Streaked, marked with streaks.
Striped, marked with stripes.
Veined, marked with veins.
Clouded, marked with clouds.
Brindled, marked with spots of different colors.
Mottled, marked with spots of different colors, or shades of color, as if stained.
Motley, consisting of different colors, as a motley coat. Hence, mixed, as a motley crowd.
Dappled, marked with spots of different colors, or shades of color; as, a dappled horse.
Checkered, marked with stripes of different colors crossing each other.
Brown is a dusky color inclining to red.
Russet, of a reddish brown color; as, a russet mantle.
Auburn, of a reddish brown; as auburn locks.
Dun, partaking of brown and black; as, a dun horse.
Drab, of a dull brown color. (Applied to cloth.)
Sorrel, of a light-red color. (Spoken of horses.)
Bay, inclining to chestnut-brown. (Spoken of horses.)
Roan, of a bay, sorrel, or dark color, with spots of gray or white thickly interspersed. (Spoken of horses.)
Sandy, of a yellowish red. (Spoken of the human hair.)
Complexion is the color of the human skin.
Fair, having a light complexion.
To Tan is to darken the complexion by exposure to the sun.
Tawny, of a yellowish-dark color, like things tanned.
Swarthy, of a dark complexion. The inhabitants of warm climates are either swarthy or black.
Dingy, of a dirty dark color. The walls of a room are rendered dingy by smoke and dust.
Sable, black. The negroes are called the sable sons of Africa. Sable habiliments are emblematic of mourning. (From the sable, an animal with a beautifully black, and highly-prized fur.)
Ebon, of a deep-black color. (From ebony, the name of a black-colored wood.)
Night, sable goddess, from her ebon throne,
In rayless majesty now stretches forth
Her leaden scepter o'er a slumbering world.
Jet is a variety of lignite, that is, of fossil wood, which having been buried for thousands of years in the earth, has been converted into coal.
Jet is exceedingly black, and breaks with a glossy fracture. Hence,
Jet-black, denoting the highest possible degree of blackness.
Raven, characterized by the blackness of the bird thus named; as, raven locks.
Niger, black. (L.) Hence,
Negro, a black person of the African race.
Nigrescent, approaching to blackness.
Denigrate, to blacken.
Red is a bright color like that of blood.
Scarlet is a bright red.
Crimson is a dark red.
Pink is a light red, like that of the flower thus named.
Roseate, rose-colored, that is, moderately red.
Marked you her eye of heavenly blue?
Marked you her cheek of roseate hue?
Her eye in liquid circles moving;
Her cheek abashed at man's approving;
The one love's arrows darting round,
The other blushing at the wound.
Ruddy, of a reddish color, like that of the cheeks of a healthy child.
Rubeo, to be red. (L.) Hence,
Rubescent, tending to a red color.
Rubicund, inclining to redness.
Rubefacient, in medicine, an external application which produces redness of the skin. (L. facio, to make.)
Ruby, a precious stone of a red color.
Rubeola, the measles; thus called from the redness of the skin.
Erubescence, a redness of the skin or surface of any thing, resembling the redness caused by blushing.
Carnation is a flesh color. A certain species of pink is, from its color, called the carnation. (L. caro [carnis], flesh.)
Vermilion is a bright red paint. Hence the term vermilion is employed to signify any beautiful red color. We speak of the vermilion of a maiden's lips.
Carmine is a paint of a beautiful red color bordering on purple.
A Blush is a temporary redness of the face caused by a sense of shame or abashment.
Note.—Blushing is produced by a sudden flow of the blood to the vessels of the skin.
A Flush is a sudden reddening of the face from mental excitement, or from bodily disease.
To Glow is to be red.
Clad in a gown that glows with Tyrian rays.—Dryden.
See Arts. Light and Heat.
Yellow is a bright color resembling that of gold.
Jaundice is a disease thus named from the yellowness of the skin by which it is characterized. (Fr., jaune, yellow.)
Sallow, yellow, as from illness.
Orange is a combination of red and yellow, like the color of the fruit thus named.
Blue is the characteristic color of the clear sky.
Azure is a sky-blue.
Cerulean signifies sky-colored.
Ultramarine is a beautiful sky-blue paint, formed of a mineral called lapis lazuli.
Indigo is a deep-blue color like that of the drug.
Livid means black-and-blue. The skin may become livid in consequence of a severe contusion.
Violet is a dark-blue, inclining to red, like the color of the flower thus named.
Green is the color of fresh foliage, and is a compound of yellow and blue.
Verdant signifies green, and is properly applied only to the greenness of vegetation; as, verdant meads.
Verdure is the greenness of the fields and forests during the summer season.
Pale, when applied as an epithet to any particular color, denotes a deficiency in the degree or intensity of the color; as, a pale red, a pale blue.
Pale, when applied to the countenance, denotes an absence of the freshness which is indicative of ordinary health.
Note.—Paleness depends upon a deficiency in the amount of blood circulating in the small vessels of the skin. Protracted paleness is caused by ill health. A temporary paleness may be induced by a sudden emotion of fear.
Pallidness is an excess of paleness caused by protracted sickness, hunger, or fatigue.
Wanness is a ghastly paleness indicative of extreme prostration of the vital powers by protracted sickness or want of food.
3. Terms relating to the imparting or changing of Colors.
To Paint is to apply coloring matter mixed with oil or water to the surface of any thing.
Paints or Pigments are colored substances used in painting.
To Dye is to color substances by immersing them in a watery solution of some coloring matter.
To Stain is to change the color by the application of a coloring matter that enters the pores of the substance to which it is applied.
To Bleach is to whiten either by sunlight, or by exposure to the influence of certain vapors.
Note.—Wax may be bleached by exposure to the sun's rays. Linen is bleached by alternately wetting and drying it, and by keeping it, in the meantime, spread out in the sunshine. Cotton goods are bleached by the action of chlorine gas. Straw bonnets are bleached by exposing them to the fumes of sulphur.
To Blanch is a term applied to certain processes of whitening. (Fr., blanc, white.)
Note.—Plants may be blanched by excluding the light from them while growing. The cheeks may be blanched by a sudden emotion of terror.