Paterson J. A Dictionary of Colour - A Lexicon of the Language of Colour (анг. яз.)
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a mousy, mousey
Especially as regards hair, having a drab grey or light brown similar to that of
a mouse. Also ‘mouse-coloured’.
n mousy blonde
A drab blonde colour especially as regards hair.
c mud
Used to describe the colour of wet soil. One of the colours in Winifred Nicholson’s
1944 ‘Chart of Colours’.
c mud brown
A dark brown.
a muddy
As in ‘muddy colours’ in reference to those colours which appear murky or cloudy.
Used both literally and figuratively as in ‘muddy waters’.
a mulatto
Tawny; the yellowish-brown complexion of a person born to a black parent and
a white parent.
c mulberry
Of the colour of the mulberry; Job Trotter in Charles Dickens’ ‘Pickwick Papers’
was a ‘wolf in a mulberry suit’. Also ‘mulberry red’.
n mulch dye
A green dye used to make, amongst other things, grass greener as in Birmingham,
England in May 1998 when a stretch of newly-laid turf failed to turn green in
time for President Clinton’s visit.
n Müllerian mimicry
The form of mimicry named after the zoologist J.F Müller (1821-1897) where
inedible insects develop colouring or patterns in order to imitate other species
of insects which are either unpalatable or poisonous with a view to deterring
their enemies. Cf Batesian mimicry.
n mulling
The process of grinding pigment and oil to create oil paint.
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n multi-coloured paint
Paint consisting of several colours most effectively applied by means of a spray
and producing a flecked finish with each colour appearing separate from the next.
a multi-coloured, multicoloured
Having many colours.
a multi-hued, multihued
Having many colours.
n mummy
The dark brown bituminous pigment said to be produced from the asphaltum
of Egyptian mummies!
c mummy brown
A bituminous yellowish-brown colour made from mummy.
n munjistin
An orange colouring agent derived from munjeet.
n Munsell Colour System
The notation system devised in 1905 by Albert Munsell and revised in 1929 to
put colours into an ordered collection by reference to hue, chroma and lightness
in a 3-dimensional setting.
n murex
A mollusc producing purple dye.
n murexide
A synthetic purple dye made from uric acid found in the excrement of guano the
Peruvian sea fowl and marketed as ‘Roman purple’ in the mid 18th century in
reference to the revered Tyrian purple of the ancients.
n murk, mirk
Darkness, gloom.
a murky
Gloomy, dark as in ‘murky brown’.
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c murrey, murry
Dark purplish red; mulberry colour; purplish-red or blood-colour like that of
the mulberry for which it is a shortened form. Also called ‘murrie’ although that
term is sometimes said to be the colour morello.
c mushroom
A pale shade of brown similar to the vegetable, mushroom.
c mushy-pea green
The green colour of mushy processed peas used (that is, the term) in relation to
an Yves St Laurent design.
c musk-coloured
Having the dark brown colour associated with musk – the strong-smelling substance
secreted by the male musk-deer.
c mustard
A reddish-yellow. Also ‘mustard-coloured’.
c mustard brown
A deep brownish-yellow.
c mustard yellow
A deep yellow colour popular in the 1930’s.
a muted
As regards colour, softened or of a reduced intensity.
c myrtle green
A green resembling the green of the myrtle leaf. Sometimes reduced to ‘myrtle’
(which has also been seen as a purple colour).
c mythogreen
A brilliant yellowish-green.
adjective a
adverb adv
a colour c
noun n
prefix pr
suffix su
verb vb
N
c nacarat
Orange-red.
n nacre
Mother of pearl.
a nacreous
Having iridescence like nacre.
c nankeen
Yellow from the cotton cloth of the same name.
n nanometre
A very small unit of length (one thousand-millionth of a metre) used in the measure-
ment of wavelengths of light. The wavelength of light is very short – about half
a millionth of a metre. Hence, for ease, it is measured in nanometres – 1 nanometre
being equal to 10 (-9) metres – nanos being Greek for nine. Visible light to human
beings ranges from approximately 380 nanometres to 760 nanometres. In Bright
Earth – The Invention of Colour Philip Ball refers to the phenomenon that although
green and red are respectively in the range of 520 and 620 nanometres and yellow
is in the region of 580 nanometres, when green and red light are mixed to produce
yellow light no new wavelength is created.
266 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
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n naphtha
A solvent produced from petroleum or coal tar.
c naphthamide maroon
A maroon first produced in 1960 together with other benzimadazolone pigments,
but expensive to produce and not commonly found. Also ‘naphthamide blue’.
c naphthol red
A medium red made from naphthol. Also ‘naphthol red light’ and ‘napthol crimson’.
a Naples
Refers to pigments originally produced in Naples.
c Naples yellow
A heavy and dense yellow pigment containing antimony and used from the 17th
century (and possibly long before) in place of lead-tin oxide. It was in turn replaced
by cadmium colours. Also known as ‘jaune brilliant’ and ‘antimony yellow’. Naples
yellow is toxic – Vincent Van Gogh’s illness having possibly been caused by his
use of this colour. Now refers to the particular hue rather than the pigment itself.
c nasturtium
Used in combination with colours such as orange, red, blue and yellow in reference
to the plant of the same name. Hence colours such as ‘nasturtium red’.
c National blue
A deep blue.
n native colours
Colours in their natural unadulterated state.
c Nattier blue
A very soft blue colour used by Jean Nattier (1685-1766).
a natural
Commonly used to describe a wide range of colours representing natural
substances such as undyed cloth, earth, stone and wood including light browns,
greyish browns, off-white, grey, drab, écru, beige, grège and similar colours.
268 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
a natural-coloured
Having an off-white colour. Often used in describing the colour of cloth. See natural
colours.
n Natural Colour System (NCS)
A system of colour notation originating in Sweden whereby colours are
described by reference to the six colours red, yellow, green, blue, white and black
employing a percentage scale. This system was intended to enable colours to
be determined without the need for colour measuring instruments.
n natural dyes
Natural dyes and pigments derived from plants, from minerals and from animals
and insects. Plant or vegetal dyes include alizarin, cutch, fustic, indigo, madder,
safflower, saffron, weld and woad. Mineral dyes include lapis lazuli, ochre,
azurite, lead oxide, cinnabar, limestone, manganese and malachite green.
Animal dyes include carmine and cochineal. Plants often produce a dye which
is of a different colour from that of the plant. For example, the strawberry produces
a beige dye.
n natural earth
See earth colours.
n natural order of colour
The colours placed in order of their lightness of tone from yellow (the nearest
to white) through orange, red, purple, blue, green and violet (the nearest to black).
c nauseous green
Compare with ‘bilious blue’!
c NavajoWhite
One of the 140 colours in the X11 Color Set. It has hex code #FFDEAD.
a nævous
Freckled.
c navy
A dark blue. Short for Navy blue.
c Navy
Another of the 140 colours in the X11 Color Set. It has hex code #000080.
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c navy blue
A dark purplish blue. Derived from the colour of the uniform traditionally worn
by some navies.
a nebulous
Indistinct or vague.
c Negro
A dark brown colour name now offensive and inappropriate to use.
n neon colours
Very bright garish colours.
c neon pink
A bright garish pink. Also ‘neon-lime’.
c neptuna
A green named after the seagod Neptune.
c nettle
A shade of dark green.
a neutral
Having no predominant coloration. Without hue. A colour is said to be neutralised
or made duller when it is mixed with its complementary colour.
a nicotine-stained
As regards the fingers of heavy smokers of tobacco, the yellowish colour or stain
taken on as a result of such smoking.
n niello
A black alloy of copper, lead, silver, and sulphur, used as an
infill in engraving silver so as to provide a contrast.
c nigger brown
Once a term for dark brown, but now deeply offensive.
adjective a
adverb adv
a colour c
noun n
prefix pr
suffix su
verb vb
270 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
c nightclub tan
My father’s description of a wan complexion! See also café sunburn.
pr nigr- (L)
Black.
a nigrescent
Becoming or turning black.
a nigresceous
Black.
a nigricant
Black, swarthy.
n nigrosin(e)
Blue/black colorant.
a nigrous
A very deep black.
c Nile blue
Greenish-blue. Also a chemical used as a blue stain particularly for fatty acids.
c Nile green
The pale green colour of the river Nile; also called eau de nil.
n nimbus
In painting, the halo of gold light appearing behind the head of a sacred person.
See mandorla.
pr nipho- (L)
Snowy.
c Nippon
A dark navy blue colour.
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n nitency
The state of being bright or lustrous.
a nitid
Bright glossy or lustrous.
a nitidous
Smooth or lustrous.
pr nival- (L)
Snowy.
a niveous
Snowy, white.
n nivosity
Snowiness.
a nixious
Snowy.
n no-colour
A nondescript colour hard to specify as in ‘no-colour hair’ (The Evening Standard
23.8.99).
a noctilucent
Shining at night. In particular, ‘noctilucent cloud’ – electric blue cloud at high
altitudes which at dawn or dusk reflects the light of the sun – a phenomenon
sometimes mistaken as a sighting of a UFO.
a noctilucous
Glowing at night like phosphorous.
c noir
Black in roulette; used in the game rouge et noir.
n non-fade colours
Colours which are colourfast.
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a non-fading
‘non-fading golden yellow flowers’ said of the orchid called Mystic Golden Leopard.
n non-solid colour
In computer science, colour resulting from the pattern of pixels; see also dithering
and dithered colour.
n non-yellowing paint
Paint designed to maintain its whiteness or purity.
n norbixin
A red food colouring agent (E160 (b)).
n Northern Lights
See aurora borealis.
n nuance
A subtle variation in the shade or tone of a colour.
c nude
A brownish pink. The Times of 1.3.00 refers to Dior’s ‘nude-coloured chiffon
dresses’.
c nugrey
A purplish-grey.
c Nuremberg violet
See manganese violet.
c nut-brown
Often the reddish-brown colour of the hazel nut but strictly a general brown colour
used to describe the many shades of nuts.
c nutmeg
‘He’s of the colour of the nutmeg’; Shakespeare’s Henry V Act 3 Scene 7; variously
a light or dark brown and sometimes a greyish brown.