King James Bible Dictionary

COLOR, noun

1. In physics, a property inherent in light, which, by a difference in the rays and the laws of refraction, or some other cause, gives to bodies particular appearances to the eye. The principal colors are red, orange, yellow, green blue, indigo and violet. White is not properly a color; as a white body reflects the rays of light without separating them. Black bodies, on the contrary, absorb all the rays, or nearly all, and therefore black is no distinct color But in common discourse, white and black are denominated colors; and all the colors admit of many shades of difference.

2. Appearance of a body to the eye, or a quality of sensation, caused by the rays of light; hue; dye; as the color of gold, or of indigo.

3. A red color; the freshness or appearance of blood in the face.

My cheeks no longer did their color boast.

4. Appearance to the mind; as, prejudice puts a false color upon objects.

5. Superficial cover; palliation; that which serves to give an appearance of right; as, their sin admitted no color or excuse.

6. External appearance; false show; pretense; guise.

Under the color of commending him,

I have access my own love to prefer.

7. Kind; species; character; complexion.

Boys and women are, for the most part, cattle of this color

8. That which is used for coloring; paint; as red lead, ocher, orpiment, cinnabar, or vermilion, etc.

9. Colors, with a plural termination, in the military art, a flag, ensign or standard, borne in an army or fleet. [See Flag.]

10. In law, color in pleading is when the defendant in assize or trespass, gives to the plaintiff a color or appearance of title, by stating his title specially; thus removing the cause from the jury to the court.

Water-colors are such as are used in painting with gum-water or size, without being mixed with oil.

COLOR, verb transitive

1. To change or alter the external appearance of a body or substance; to dye; to tinge; to paint; to stain; as, to color cloth. Generally, to color is to change from white to some other color

2. To give a specious appearance; to set in a fair light; to palliate; to excuse.

He colors the falsehood of Aeneas by an express command of Jupiter to forsake the queen.

3. To make plausible; to exaggerate in representation.

To color a strangers good, is when a freeman allows a foreigner to enter goods at the custom house in his name, to avoid the aliens duty.

COLOR, verb intransitive To blush.

COLORABLE, adverb Speciously; plausibly; with a fair external appearance.

COLORATE, adjective Colored; dyed; or tinged with some color.

COLORATION, noun The art or practice of coloring, or the state of being colored.

COLORATURE, noun In music, all manner of variations, trills, etc., intended to make a song agreeable.

COLORED, participle passive

1. Having the external appearance changed; dyed; tinged; painted stained.

2. Streaked; striped; having a diversity of hues.

3. Having a specious appearance.

COLORED people, black people, Africans or their descendants, mixed or unmixed.

COLORIFIC, adjective That has the quality of tinging; able to give color, or tint to other bodies.

COLORING, participle present tense

1. Dying; staining; tinging.

2. Giving a fair external appearance; palliating; excusing.

COLORING, noun

1. The act or art of dyeing; the state of being colored; color.

2. A specious appearance; fair artificial representation; as, the story has a coloring of truth.

3. Among painters, the manner of applying colors; or the mixture of light and shade, formed by the various colors employed.

COLORIST, noun One who colors; a painter who excels in giving the proper colors to his designs.

COLORLESS, adjective Destitute of color; not distinguished by any hue; transparent; as colorless water, glass or gas.

Symbolic uses of

Black, a symbol of affliction and calamity
Job 3:5; Job 10:20-22; Job 30:26; Psalms 107:10-11; Psalms 143:3; Isaiah 5:30; Isaiah 8:22; Isaiah 9:19; Isaiah 24:11; Isaiah 50:3; Joel 2:6; Joel 2:10; Joel 3:14-15; Amos 5:8; Nahum 2:10; Zephaniah 1:14-15; Matthew 8:12; Matthew 22:13; Matthew 25:30; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:13; Revelation 16:10

Blue:

A symbol of deity
Exodus 24:10; Jeremiah 10:9; Ezekiel 1:26; Ezekiel 10:1; Exodus 25:3-4; Exodus 26:1; Exodus 28:28; Exodus 28:37; Exodus 38:18; Exodus 39:1-5; Exodus 39:21; Exodus 39:24; Exodus 39:29; Exodus 39:31; Numbers 4:5-12; Numbers 15:38-40; 2 Chronicles 2:7; 2 Chronicles 2:14; 2 Chronicles 3:14

A symbol of royalty
Esther 8:15; Ezekiel 23:6

Crimson, red, purple, and scarlet:

Used in the symbolisms of the tabernacle furnishings and priestly vestments and functions, as types and shadows of the atonement
Exodus 25:3-5; Exodus 26:1; Exodus 26:14; Exodus 26:31; Exodus 36:35; Exodus 36:37; Exodus 26:36; Exodus 27:16; Exodus 38:18; Exodus 38:23; Exodus 28:4-6; Exodus 28:8; Exodus 28:15; Exodus 28:31; Exodus 28:33; Exodus 35:5-7; Exodus 35:23; Exodus 35:25; Exodus 35:35; Exodus 36:8; Exodus 36:19; Exodus 2:39; Leviticus 14:4; Leviticus 14:6; Leviticus 14:49; Leviticus 14:51-52; Numbers 4:7-8; Numbers 4:13; Numbers 19:2; Numbers 19:5-6; Isaiah 63:1-3; Hebrews 9:19-23

Symbols of various ideas:

Of iniquity
Isaiah 1:18; Revelation 17:3-4; Revelation 18:12; Revelation 18:16

Of royalty
Judges 8:26; Daniel 5:7; Daniel 5:16; Daniel 5:29; Matthew 27:28

Of prosperity
2 Samuel 1:24; Proverbs 31:21; Lamentations 4:5

Of conquest
Nahum 2:3; Revelation 12:3

White, a symbol of holiness:

The high priest's holy garments were of white linen
Leviticus 16:4; Leviticus 16:32

Choir singers arrayed in white
2 Chronicles 5:12

Scriptures employing the symbol
Psalms 51:7; Ecclesiastes 9:8; Isaiah 1:18; Daniel 7:9; Daniel 11:35; Daniel 12:10; Matthew 17:1-2; Mark 9:3; Matthew 28:2-3; Revelation 1:13-14; Revelation 2:17; Revelation 3:4-5; Revelation 3:18; Revelation 4:4; Revelation 6:2; Revelation 6:11; Revelation 7:9; Revelation 7:13-14; Revelation 15:6; Revelation 19:8; Revelation 19:11; Revelation 19:14; Revelation 20:11

The terms relative to color, occurring in the Bible, may be arranged in two classes, the first including those applied to the description of natural objects, the second those artificial mixtures which were employed in dyeing or painting. The purple and the blue were derived from a small shellfish found in the Mediterranean, and were very costly, and hence they were the royal colors. Red , both scarlet and crimson, was derived from an insect resembling the cochineal. The natural colors noticed in the Bible are white, black, red, yellow and green. The only fundamental color of which the Hebrews appear to have had a clear conception was red ; and even this is not very often noticed.