Colour
Basic colours extend through an infinite range of hues and shades, and it can be useful to join the colour with an object to help indicate a particular hue. For example 'pea green' indicates the basic colour green, but of the hue and shade associated with garden peas. Jet is a powerful black colour, and hence 'jet black' indicates an impenetrable black colour. Coffee is understood to be a brown colour, coffee with cream is a pale brown, and is sometimes applied in a complimentary or admiring context to a person's complexion or skin tone as 'coffee coloured' or the colour of 'white coffee'.The spectrum of colours extends seamlessly from red through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Black and white being special cases (black is an absence of colour, white an intense mix of the three primary colours in equal parts). The paler a colour is, the closer to white it appears. The darker it is the closer to black.
Pale colours are described as 'light' or 'pastel', for example light blue, pale blue and pastel blue all have the same meaning.
Bright colours are described as 'vidid' or 'brilliant', for example bright red, vivid red and brilliant red all have the same meaning. The opposite of bright is dull. Drab is another word for dull implying a less interesting colour.
Black
Black is a strong, powerful colour traditionally associated with night, evil, mystery and death. Black hides things, people and thoughts. Black is the colour of spoiled fruit, of things ruined by evil.
- Jet - An intense black.
- Raven - An intense, glossy black with a hint of purple or blue.
- Sooty - Brownish-black. Reminiscent of dirt from a smoky fire.
Blue
Blue ranges from green-blue (turquoise) through to purple-blue (indigo).- Alice blue - A very light greenish-blue colour.
- Aquamarine - A bluish-green colour.
- Azure - A deep blue colour.
- Aquamarine - A pale greenish-blue colour.
- Bice blue - A medium blue colour
- Cambridge blue - A light blue colour.
- Cobalt blue - A deep blue colour with a greenish-tint. The colour of old blue glass.
- Cornflower - A soft purplish-blue colour.
- Cyan - A greenish-blue colour
- Duck-egg blue - A pale, greenish-blue colour.
- Electric blue - A vivid, metallic blue colour.
- Gentian blue - A purplish-blue colour.
- Lapis - Lapis is a deep blue colour, the colour of the lapis lazuli gem stone.
- Lupin - A pale, greyish-blue with a hint of purple.
- Midnight blue - A very dark blackish-blue colour.
- Navy - A dark, greyish-blue colour.
- Nile blue - A pale greenish-blue colour.
- Oxford blue - A dark blue colour.
- Peacock blue - A greenish-blue colour.
- Powder blue - A pale blue colour.
- Prussian blue - A deep greenish-blue colour.
- Royal blue - A deep blue colour.
- Saxe blue - A light, greyish-blue colour.
- Turquoise - A bright greenish-blue colour.
- Ultramarine - A vivid blue colour.
Brown
Brown is associated with the earth, with soil. With ordinary or working activities or people. Brown is a drab, peasant or poor colour. Brown is also associated with wood and with trees. With honesty and unpretentiousness (simplicity).- Almond - A rich pale brown colour.
- Bisque - A pale, yellowish-brown colour like baked biscuit.
- Burnt sienna - A rich reddish brown, earthy colour.
- Butterscotch - A pale yellowish-brown colour.
- Chocolate - A rich dark brown colour.
- Hazel - A greenish-brown usually associated with the colour of eyes.
- Leather - Tan-brown
- Sienna - A yellowish brown, earthy colour.
- Tan - A yellowish-brown colour, darker than butterscotch or bisque.
- Tawny - An orange-brown, yellow-brown or pale brown colour.
- Terracotta - A dull, earthy, brownish orange.
- Toffee - A yellowish-brown.
Green
Green ranges from yellow-green (lime green) to blue-green (turquoise)- Apple - A more subdued pale green colour than lime, reminiscent of the colour of a green apple.
- Aquamarine - A vivid, pale, bluish-green colour.
- Avocado - A dull, medium-dark green colour often associated with bathroom fittings.
- Bottle Green - A dark green colour.
- Emerald - A vivid, brilliant medium to dark green colour. Emerald is also used to imply elegance and quality, indicative of the precious stone.
- Holly - A dark green.
- Jade green - A yellowish-green or bluish-green colour.
- Lime - A vivid, often lurid pale green colour.
- Lincoln Green - A vivid yellowish-green colour.
- Olive - A dull, medium-dark green colour.
- Pea Green - A yellowish green colour.
- Spearmint - A pale bluish-green.
Grey
Grey describes the infinite shades between brilliant white and black.- Pearly - A very pale bluish-grey colour, paler than slate grey.
- Silver - A greyish-white.
- Slate - A pale bluish-grey colour. Slate grey implies hardness, conjuring images of the hard, cold natural stone.
- Steel - A pale bluish-grey colour. Steel grey implies hardness in much the same way as slate grey, but with the image of the metal rather than the mineral.
Orange
Orange is a colour merging red with yellow.- Amber - A yellowish-orange.
- Cinnamon - A brownish-orange colour.
- Flame - A strong reddish-orange, reminiscent of fire.
- Mango - A pale orange.
- Orange - The colour of the ripe fruit of the same name, and halfway between red and yellow.
- Peach - A pale, pinkish-orange.
- Pumpkin - A dull brownish-orange.
- Tangerine - Orange.
- Mandarin - Orange, but hinting at Oriental or Chinese.
Purple
Purple is a colour ranging from blue-purple (indigo) to red-purple (pink)- Amethyst - A pale purple between lilac and violet.
- Cyclamen - A dark reddish-purple colour.
- Damson - A dark, blue-black purple colour. Darker than plum.
- Indigo - A blue-violet colour.
- Lavender - A bluish-purple colour.
- Lilac - A pale purple.
- Plum - A dark, reddish-purple colour.
- Purple - A regal dark colour more usually understood as a bluish-purple hue.
- Violet - A bluish-purple colour, less blue than indigo, more like magenta but less pink.
Pink
Pink is an effeminate or girly colour merging purple with red. Traditionally associated with femininity, young girls and innocence. Pink is associated with gentleness, with delicate blooms and with blossom.- Bubblegum - A non-descript term often applied to a vivid, bright rose or coral pink.
- Coral - A reddish-pink.
- Flamingo - An orangey-pink reminiscent of the colour of a flamingo.
- Magenta - A brilliant purple-pink.
- Rose - An effeminate, gentle pink.
- Rosy - A effeminate, gentle pink usually associated with complexion.
- Salmon - An orange-pink colour.
Red
Red is a colour ranging from pink (purple-red) to orange (yellow-red). Red is traditionally associated with danger, stop, blood, warnings, prohibition. Red can evoke images of blood, and hence of murder, of ghoulishness and of horror. Red is associated with energy, activity, anger, fertility and is associated with the planet Mars and with war.- Apple - Almost any shade of red you wish. A purely poetic term, though more usually applied to a pale green.
- Auburn - A reddish-brown colour, the colour of an orang-utan’s hair. Auburn is usually used to describe the colour of hair.
- Burgundy - A dark, purplish-red colour of Burgundy wine.
- Crimson - A deep rich-red inclining towards purple.
- Carmine - A deep tone of crimson.
- Cherry - A brilliant, bright red.
- Cerise - A moderate, dark red.
- Claret - A purplish-red.
- Cardinal Red - A deep, vivid red.
- Carnation - A pinkish-red colour.
- Dubonnet - A dark, purplish-red colour.
- Maroon - A dark, purplish-red colour intermediate between red and purple.
- Poppy - A scarlet red.
- Ruddle - A deep orange-red ochre-based pigment used for marking sheep.
- Ruddy - Tinged with red. Reddish. Implying a colour of blood.
- Rusty - Reddish-brown or brownish-orange colour of iron oxide (rust). Rusty implies decay, age, weathering.
- Rufous - Rust-coloured. Rufous implies more organic than mineral, an animal may be described as being rufous in colour, while a weathered piece of iron is more likely rusty.
- Russet - Reddish-brown. Russet is more usually applied to flora, such as apples or potatoes, while rufous may describe an animal and rusty a mineral or metal item.
- Rubicund - Tinged with red. Rubicund is used to describe a person’s complexion, and implies the appearance that occurs as a result of excessive good living. The ruddy complexion one might achieve from plenty of alcohol consumption, for example.
- Sanguine - A rather archaic term for the red colour of blood, implying blood.
- Scarlet - A vivid red inclining towards orange.
- Vermillion - The brilliant scarlet red colour of cinnabar
White
- Antique white - A very pale yellowish-brown off white colour.
- Beige - A drab, yellowish-grey colour.
- Cream - A yellowish-white colour, frequently more yellow than ivory.
- Ivory - A yellowish-white or off-white colour (the colour of ivory) often associated with skin tone.
- Linen - A flat, pale yellowish-grey just off white.
- Magnolia - A pinkish white colour.
- Milky - A brilliant white colour.
Yellow
- Gold - A dark, rich yellow implying wealth or splendour.
- Khaki - A dull, brownish-yellow colour of clay or mud.
- Lemon - A brilliant yellow colour.
- Marigold - A rich, dark yellow.
- Mustard - A dark, brownish-yellow.
- Sandy - A brownish yellow, paler than mustard.
- Sulphur - A brilliant, bright yellow.