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Color term
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{{short description|Word or phrase that refers to a specific color}} {{Use American English|date=October 2020}} {{multiple image | direction = vertical | width = 250 | image1 = Color star-en (tertiary names).svg | alt1 = A color wheel with main colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple | image2 = RGB color wheel.svg | alt2 = A color wheel with main colors of red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and magenta | caption2 = [[Color wheel]]s with [[English language|English]] color terms for [[RYB]] (above) and [[CMYK]] (below) approaches }} A '''color term''' (or color name) is a word or [[phrase]] that refers to a specific color. The color term may refer to human perception of that color (which is affected by visual context) which is usually defined according to the [[Munsell color system]], or to an underlying physical property (such as a specific [[wavelength]] on the [[spectrum]] of [[visible light]]). There are also numerical systems of color specification, referred to as [[color space]]s. An important distinction must be established between color and shape, as these two attributes usually are used in conjunction with one another when describing in language. For example, they are labeled as alternative parts of speech terms color term and shape term.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Colour Categories in Thought and Language; 'The neuropsychology of color' |last=Davidoff |first=Jules |publisher=Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge |year=1997 |isbn=9780521498005 |location=Cambridge, England |pages=118–120}}</ref> Psychological conditions for recognition of colors exist, such as those who cannot discern colors in general or those who see colors as sound (a variety of [[synesthesia]]). [[File:Colours in Irish.png|thumb|left|[[Color wheel]] with [[Irish language|Irish Gaelic]] colour terms, explaining that {{lang|ga|glas}} ("pale blue/grey/green") and {{lang|ga|gorm}} ("deep blue/grey/green") are distinguished based on intensity ([[luminosity]]) rather than [[hue]]. Similarly, {{lang|ga|buí}} refers not only to "yellow" and "gold", but pale browns as "buff beige" and "ochre", while {{lang|ga|dunn}} is for darker browns. {{lang|ga|Rua}} refers to red of hair ([[fox]], [[Erithacus rubecula|robin]]), whereas {{lang|ga|dearg}} refers to red of [[blood]] and {{lang|ga|bándearg}} is "pale red". Then, {{lang|ga|Bán}}, {{lang|ga|fionn}}, {{lang|ga|geal}}, and {{lang|ga|liath}} all refer to varying degrees of [[brightness]] or "fairness" — without mapping clearly only the English "white" — against {{lang|ga|dubh}} for "dark" or "black".]]
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