Where Did the Colors Get Their Names?

As old as language itself are the names for many of the colors we know so well. Others came into the English language in a more circuitous way, such as the color orange which had its origin in China and refers to the citrus fruit; violet, from the flower by that name; and indigo, from the Indigofera tinctoria plant .

In the annuals of human language, the colors white and black, from ancient times,  always had a name. Cave dwellers used black to etch drawings on the walls. Though some would say that black and white are not really colors at all, but rather the lack of or culmination of all true colors. White is a tint, used to make color hues lighter in tone. Black is a shade used to make color hues darker in tone.

The next oldest color name belongs to red, the hue of blood either human or from slaughtered animal meat. Yellow and green, the most common colors for vegetation, came next. Blue cam from the color of the sky; brown, (dark orange) the color of the Earth and the hue seen commonly in animals. Purple’s origin comes from a type of shellfish, Bolinus brandaris, used to dye the robes of kings and emperors. The color pink comes from the frilled edges of the Dianthus flower, and gray/grey is found in the Bible, used to describe elderly people. Many of the more interesting and fun modern names for colors come from the Crayola company, a name most of us know from early children hood.

Aurochs on a cave painting in Lascaux, France

Red blood cell agar

Leeks

Maze/Corn

Two shells of Bolinus brandaris, also known as the Spiny dye-murex

Tyrian Purple

Indigofera tinctoria Dianthus

References:

Where did color names come from?                                                                                                                              http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1005121302046

Color Names:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_name

Color:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color

Cave Paintings:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_painting

Red Etymology:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?sear…

(Ancient) Fruits and Vegetables

http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/vegetables.htm

Ancient vs Modern Fruits and Vegetables:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/ancient-vs-modern-fruits-and-vegetables/#axzz1hMd2vJLx

Brown:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown

History, Shellfish, Royalty and the Color Purple:

http://pffc-online.com/mag/1348-paper-history-shellfish-royalty

Tyrian Purple:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_purple

Indigofera tinctoria:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigofera_tinctoria

Indigo:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo

Everything you ever wanted to know about the color pink:

http://soozeqsh.hubpages.com/hub/Think-Pink-I-Cant-Think-of-Anything-I-Dont-Like-that-is-PINK

Pink:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink

Grey or Gray:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey

Gray:

http://home.earthlink.net/~mflabar/Colors.htm#Gray

Hue:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hue

Color Name & Hue

http://www.colblindor.com/color-name-hue/

Crayola:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayola

Official Crayola Site:

http://www.crayola.com/

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