Latin Colors - Blog Posts

Do you know the names of the colors in Latin?

Yes. Here is a list of them:

Colores Latini

You will find discrepancies in the names of colors among different sources. John C. Traupman’s book Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency explains why:

The vagueness of Latin color terms is due to the origin of colors out of dyestuff and pigments. The colors of minerals vary, and dyes produce different effects according to the mode of preparation and the materials dyed. Their applications have to be guessed from literary sources, which for the most part are incidental and vague. Color names used by poets tend to be applied metaphorically or indefinitely.To get a better idea of how the Romans applied color terms, it is necessary to cite the objects to which colors were attached. For example, when Horace describes Augustus as being transformed into a god, he speaks of the lips of the deified Augustus as purpúreus, indicating his health. Purpúreus, at least there, is crimson, not purple.

I find that, even in more modern times, different Latin writers have their own different sets of terms. For example, these are Newton’s terms for ROY G. BIV:

 Rubeus: Red

Aureus: Orange

Flavus: Yellow

Viridis: Green

Caeruleus: Blue

Indicus: Indigo

Violaceus: Violet

Here are the adjectival color words that I usually use:

roseus: pink

ruber: red

aurantius or luteus: orange

flavus: yellow

viridis: green

caeruleus: blue

purpureus: purple

indicus or indigoticus: indigo

violaceus: violet

albus: (dead) white

candidus: (shining) white

ater: (dull) black

niger: (shining) black

griseus or canus: grey

brunneus or fuscus: brown

Some other things to know:

The prefix sub- means “somewhat” or “almost” and can often be rendered by the English suffix -ish: albus, “white,” so subalbus, “whitish”; flavus, “yellow,” so sufflavus, “yellowish.”

Many of the color adjectives derive from the names of the objects to which they are attached: e.g. violaceus, “violet-colored,” from viola, “a violet”; roseus, “rose-colored,” from rosa, “a rose.” Adjectives can be created from nouns by the suffixes -eus, -ineus, -inus, and -aceus. Thus, tumblreus, “Tumblr-blue.”