- color
- early 13c., from O.Fr. colur, from L. color (acc. colorem) "color, hue," from Old L. colos, originally "a covering" (akin to celare "to hide, conceal"), from PIE base *kel- "to cover, conceal" (see cell). O.E. words for "color" were hiw, bleo. The verb is from c.1300, earliest use is figurative.