I believe everyone distinguishes colour slightly differently. Sometimes I will comment about a piece of clothing that appears a shade of purple to me, but Patti maintains that it is in the blue spectrum. The wonderful blue sky we perceive on a sunny afternoon, the amazing orangish red we observe at sunrise or sunset, may be seen somewhat differently to others.
Colour is a phenomenon of light. Colour is the aspect of the appearances of objects that may be described in terms of hue, lightness, and saturation. Colour is other than black, white, or grey.
Colour, or color to our American friends, was borrowed from the Latin color, a physical pigment, complexion, and appearance. This may have derived from the original meaning of colos, as a covering or outermost layer.
There are three primary colours: red, yellow, and blue. Orange, green, and violet are secondary colours. The seven colours of the rainbow, associated with the story of Noah’s Ark in the Bible, are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Over the centuries the various hues, lightness, and saturation of these colours has been described with specific names. Here are a few uncommon colours that contain an interesting story: vermilion, verdigris, bisque, puce, damask, and jasper.
Vermilion is a vivid reddish orange colour. It is a strong red that is deeper than geranium red and bluer than cherry red. Vermilion traces back to the Latin vermiculus, meaning kermes. Kermes are the insects that were used to produce this ancient dye. The insect is dried and ground to a powder, placed in a pot of water and cooked on a low heat, which turns the water vermilion. The insects are native in the Mediterranean region and are parasites living on the sap of the Kermes oak and the Palestine oak trees.
Verdigris is a yellowish green colour that is lighter than almond green and paler than malachite green. Verdigris came from the Anglo-French vert de Grece, literally, "green of Greece." Ancient Greeks manufactured this pigment by hanging copper plates over hot vinegar in a sealed container. When copper naturally oxidizes, a verdigris green film forms on its surface. This process has coloured the Statue of Liberty.
Bisque is a light greyish brown. Bisque is a shortened form of biscuit, meaning earthenware after the first firing and before glazing. This comes from the Anglo-French besquit, twice-cooked bread. An example of twice-cooked bread, a teething biscuit, is an example of this colour.
Puce is a dark red that is less strong than cranberry, lighter than pomegranate, and bluer than wine. Puce comes from the French, where puce translates as flea. The parasitic flea, with its belly full of blood, is the colour puce. According to the biography of Marie Antoinette’s dressmaker, Rose Bertin, the queen had a brownish purple dress made. When Louis XVI was asked what he thought of his wife’s dress, he replied, “C’est puce.” (It is flea coloured.)
Damask is a greyish red colour that is bluer than blush rose and deeper than apple blossom red. During the Middle Ages travellers brought a flower to Europe from Syria that had a unique colour. The hue of the blossom lives on in the colour damask, honouring the city of Damascus in the Middle East.
Jasper is a blackish green colour that is bluer than cannon. The name comes from the opaque quartz stone called jasper. The rarest jasper stones are blackish green. The town and park located in Alberta got their name from one of the trading post's early managers and voyageur, Jasper Haws, not to any stones found in the area.
It is hard to imagine a world without colour. Colour brings beauty to life and joy to the observer. May Spring bestow you with hope and joy in its many colours, as the season begins this week.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to wordwisdom2021@gmail.com. Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
