How Color Names Developed

Here is an interesting concept on color communication for colored stone dealers, gemologists, jewelers and consumers alike.

Methuen writes:

The purpose of a color name is to communicate the appearance of a given color or to enable us to think in color. Thus the color name must be so characteristic of the color’s appearance that it is readily understood by others. Since our environment is the source of colors, it is here that we must look for objects of typical colors, objects for which we already have names and which can be used to designate a characteristic appearance. Such was the case with the words blood and red, the oldest color name found in most languages. White and black are also of ancient origin and often derived from the concepts of light and dark symbolized by day and night. From the Sanskrit candra (light) came the Latin candidus (white). The Russian belyi (white) is derived from the root bhe (to lighten). The English white is derived from the Germanic xwitaz, which is related to the Russian svet (light). Similarly, black and dark share common origins. The German Schwarz (black) is related to the Nordic sortna (to darken), the Latin suasum (a dark place), and the archaic English swart, which means darkness and black (hence swarthy).

The word for yellow is also of early origin in many languages, usually derived from the names for fruits, straw, gold, fire or bile (the German galle, the Italian giallo). The words for green and blue developed at a later date, perhaps because the materials necessary to form these pigments were not as readily available. Green is naturally related to the phenomenon of growth and greenery. Blue, strangely enough, is often derived from the word for pale or yellow, perhaps because the sky often is a pale blue or even yellowish.

Among the oldest color names, those for red, yellow, green, blue, white, black, correspond with the basic concepts discussed previously. Here we shall describe these as basic names of the first order. Names of the second order are words such as beige, blonde, grey, brown, golden, lilac, magenta, olive, orange, pale, purple, rose, ruby, turquoise and violet, that is, color names which are independent words and characterize more or less specific colors or color areas.

When basic color names are combined with one another, they designate intermediate colors such as yellow green, blue black, golden blonde. The basic color names and their combinations will be grouped together under the term general color names. As the need for more refined color descriptions arose, the general color names were varied by the addition of modifiers resulting in terms such as light blue, pastel green, deep black. The addition of suffixes, such as the ish in yellowish, can be useful in describing the changes which take place in a gradual color shift, for example: green, bluish green, blue green, green blue, greenish blue, blue.

Another, larger group of color names are directly derived from specific elements in our environment. In addition to the words for the specific elements or objects which identify colors, the terms in this group usually include a basic color name. Below are some examples of color names which belong to this group:

1. Color names derived from plants: apricot (yellow), lemon yellow, grass green, hazel, rose red.

2. Color names derived from minerals and metals: alabaster, amethyst (violet), copper (red), malachite green, platinum blonde, turquoise blue.

3. Color names derived from man-made products: chocolate (brown), faience blue, bottle green, wine red.

4. Color names derived from fauna: beaver, canary yellow, mouse grey, fox, butterfly blue.

5. Color names derived from geographic names: Berlin blue, Copenhagen blue, Naples yellow, Pompeian red, Spanish green.

6. Color names derived from natural phenomena: aurora, spring green, sky blue, fire red, fog.

7. Color names derived from miscellaneous subjects: calypso (red), infra-red.

The importance of the basic color names and particularly those of the first order is evident from the frequency with which they occur in color descriptions. About one half of color descriptions contain a basic name of the first order and about one quarter a secondary basic name; in addition, combinations of both occupy about one sixth of such descriptions.

Thus far we have considered color names of one or two words, for example, blue, yellow grey, light red, deep black (yellow plus grey, light plus red, deep plus black). Color names with three or more parts are impractical. Four-part names such as light blue green grey are exceedingly difficult to visualize; even a three-part name such as grey brown red can prove awkward in usage.

In everyday speech, however, we often use auxiliary words before the proper color name; for example, a radiant orange red, a strong blue violet, a dark blue green, a warm red brown. These auxiliary words specify a slight variation of the color name proper. With time, part of the color name proper may itself become an auxiliary word; the name grey violet, for example, became more commonly known as grayish violet, and blue green also became known as bluish green. There are too many auxiliary words, such a strong and deep, to include in the dictionary. If well chosen, however, their meaning can be easily understood.

The method of forming color names outlined here obviously permits the formation of an almost unlimited number of color names, many of which would prove superfluous. Although such a flood of names is impractical, constantly changing fashions demand an ever increasing variety of color names—often in such fantastic combinations that a name becomes vague or meaningless; when it does have a meaning, this may change from year to year.