The Meaning of Color: What It Is and How To Use It

What does color mean as a noun and a verb? What is the symbolism behind different colors? Keep reading to learn about the meaning of color!

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What is your favorite color? Do you think that a person’s favorite color says a lot about them? This article will define the word color and provide information about color symbolism. 

What Does Color Mean?

The word color has several different meanings. First, color is a noun that refers to an object or person’s hue or saturation. For example, the color wheel has the primary colors and the secondary colors in the color spectrum in art. Different color schemes in interior design, web design, or graphic design might use warm colors or cool colors for specific aesthetics.

Color is also a verb that means either to apply color to something (such as with paint or dye) or to make something appear differently from the way it actually is. For example, if you color a story, you put in details to make it seem like something different happened than the original text implies.

What Do Different Colors Mean?

According to Color Meanings, color theory is a powerful thing. The meaning of colors and color symbolism color not only factor into psychology but play a pivotal role in both western cultures and eastern cultures. To learn all about different color associations, keep reading!

The Color Red

The meaning of the color red centers around power, passion, and energy. Like the color of stop signs, red is a very strong color that can signal danger. The color of fire, red is also often associated with sexuality and passion.

The Color Orange

Orange is a bright, enthusiastic color that is often associated with spontaneity, positivity, and creativity. This positive, exuberant color is often associated with bright citrus fruits. Sometimes, the color orange can be associated with caution, such as a traffic cone. That’s because it is eye-catching and grabs people’s attention.

The Color Yellow

Yellow is a color of cheerfulness and wholesomeness. This bright, happy color is associated with joy and enthusiasm. Often, people think of the color yellow as a happy, warm color that brings about feelings of fun.

The Color Green

The color green is often associated with nature and peace as well as health and harmony. This color can be tied to relaxation, balance, and security. Green is also the color of money, so it can have ties to growth, prosperity, and wealth. 

The Color Blue

There are many different shades of blue, from darker shades of dark blue like navy to a pastel light blue. This popular color is associated with trust, loyalty, and calmness. The color of the ocean and the sky, this color can bring about balance, security, and honesty. 

The Color Purple

Purple is often associated with royalty, spirituality, and imagination. This out-of-the-box color reminds many people of nobility and status. It is rumored that this color can have uplifting, positive effects that can connect people to a higher power.

The Color Brown

This stable, neutral color is often linked to nature and grounded reliability. The natural color brown appears in the dirt and the earth. This wise, protecting color can help ground people and bring them back to their center.

The Color Black

The color black is powerful and sophisticated but also dark and mysterious. This color is both elegant and scary and can be associated with magic and mysticism as well as elegance and authority. Sometimes, black is also associated with sadness, pessimism, and depression. 

The Color Pink

This happy color is associated with love and comforting compassion, whether it’s a bright magenta or a pastel baby pink. This sympathetic color evokes friendly, cheerful, nurturing energy and is often linked to femininity and romance. 

The Color White

The color white is associated with innocence and purity. This color evokes clean lines, newness, and perfection. Unfortunately, while there are many good things associated with the color white, it can also be thought of as boring or plain. 

What Are Translations of Color?

Nice Translator lists ways to say color in several languages!

  • Basque: kolore
  • Turkish: renk
  • Chinese (Taiwan): 顏色
  • Swedish: Färg
  • Slovak: farebný
  • Norwegian: farge
  • Hindi: रंग
  • Arabic: اللون
  • Telugu: రంగు
  • Danish: farve
  • Finnish: väri-
  • Urdu: رنگ
  • Croatian: boja
  • Icelandic: litur
  • Bengali: রঙ
  • Greek: χρώμα
  • Spanish: color
  • Bulgarian: цвят
  • Russian: цвет
  • Portuguese (Brazil): cor
  • Indonesian: warna
  • Amharic: ቀለም
  • Japanese: 色
  • Hebrew: צֶבַע
  • Filipino: kulay
  • German: Farbe
  • Estonian: värvus
  • Tamil: நிறம்
  • Serbian: боја
  • Romanian: culoare
  • Slovenian: Barva
  • Malay: warna
  • Dutch: kleur
  • Latvian: krāsa
  • Marathi: रंग
  • Korean: 색깔
  • Kannada: ಬಣ್ಣ
  • Swahili: rangi
  • Hungarian: szín
  • French: Couleur
  • Italian: colore
  • Chinese (PRC): 颜色
  • Vietnamese: màu sắc
  • Welsh: lliwiff
  • Portuguese (Portugal): cor
  • Polish: kolor
  • Gujarati: રંગ
  • Thai: สี
  • Malayalam: നിറം
  • Lithuanian: spalva
  • Czech: barva
  • Catalan: color
  • Ukrainian: забарвлення

What Are Synonyms of Color?

Power Thesaurus lists many synonyms of color!

  • bias
  • blush
  • colorant
  • coloration
  • colored
  • coloring
  • colorize
  • complexion
  • discolor
  • disguise
  • distort
  • dramatize
  • dye
  • dyed
  • dyeing
  • dyestuff
  • embellish
  • emblazon
  • embroider
  • ensign
  • exaggerate
  • flush
  • gild
  • gloss
  • glow
  • go red
  • hue
  • influence
  • magnify
  • overstate
  • paint
  • painted
  • pennant
  • pigment
  • pinkness
  • redden
  • semblance
  • shade
  • skin tone
  • stain
  • staining
  • tincture
  • tinge
  • tint
  • tone
  • vividness
  • warp

What Are Antonyms of Color?

How do you describe something with no color? This list of antonyms of color from Power Thesaurus will teach you.

  • black and white
  • blanch
  • bleach
  • blench
  • clarify
  • clear
  • clear up
  • colorlessness
  • decipher
  • decolor
  • decolorize
  • demonstrate
  • disclose
  • discolor
  • display
  • downplay
  • elucidate
  • enlighten
  • etiolate
  • explain
  • expose
  • fade
  • figure out
  • go bad
  • illuminate
  • illustrate
  • inform
  • interpret
  • lighten
  • make clear
  • make easy
  • make pale
  • make pallid
  • make white
  • monotony
  • pale
  • pallor
  • peroxide
  • remove color from
  • represent
  • resolve
  • reveal
  • show
  • simplify
  • whiten

Conclusion

The word color is both a noun and a verb. Many different colors have their own symbolism and associations. What is your favorite color? Everyone has personal preferences!

Sources:

  1. Color synonyms – 2 536 Words and Phrases for Color | Power Thesaurus 
  2. Color antonyms – 201 Opposites of Color | Power Thesaurus 
  3. Color Meanings | Color Meanings 
  4. Color | Nice Translator 
  5. Color Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com