Color term

A color wheel with main colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple
A color wheel with main colors of red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and magenta
Color wheels with English color terms for RYB (above) and CMYK (below) approaches.

A color term (or color name) is a word or phrase that refers to a specific color. The color term may refer to human perception of that color (which is affected by visual context) which is usually defined according to the Munsell color system, or to an underlying physical property (such as a specific wavelength on the spectrum of visible light). There are also numerical systems of color specification, referred to as color spaces.

An important distinction must be established between color and shape, as these two attributes usually are used in conjunction with one another when describing in language. For example, they are labeled as alternative parts of speech terms color term and shape term.[1]

Psychological conditions for recognition of colors exist, such as those who cannot discern colors in general or those who see colors as sound (a variety of synesthesia).

Color wheel with Irish Gaelic colour terms, explaining that glas ("pale blue/grey/green") and gorm ("deep blue/grey/green") are distinguished based on intensity (luminosity) rather than hue. Similarly, buí refers not only to "yellow" and "gold", but pale browns as "buff beige" and "ochre", while dunn is for darker browns. Rua refers to red of hair (fox, robin), whereas dearg refers to red of blood and bándearg is "pale red". Then, Bán, fionn, geal, and liath all refer to varying degrees of brightness or "fairness" — without mapping clearly only the English "white" — against dubh for "dark" or "black".
  1. ^ Davidoff, Jules (1997). Colour Categories in Thought and Language; 'The neuropsychology of color'. Cambridge, England: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. pp. 118–120. ISBN 9780521498005.

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