Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COL'OR, n. [L. color; It. colore; Sp. Port. color; Fr. couleur.]

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. – Dryden.
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. – King Charles.
6. External appearance; false show; pretense; guise. Under the color of commending him, / I have access my own love to prefer. – Shak. [See Acts xxvii. 30.]
7. Kind; species; character; complexion. Boys and women are, for the most part, cattle of this color. – Shak.
8. That which is used for coloring; paint; as red lead, ocher, orpiment, cinnabar, or vermilion, &c.
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 is assize or trespass, gives to the plaintif a color or appearance of title, by stating his title specially; thus removing the cause from the jury to the court. – Blackstone. Water-colors are such as are used in painting with gum-water or size, without being mixed with oil. – Encyc.