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REFERENCE

yellow

n.
A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈjɛɫoʊ// UK //jˈɛləʊ// yel·low Archaic General-service Informal Vulgar

n. describes the color of a lemon or the sun. It is one of the three primary colors.

n. of the color between green and orange in the visible spectrum, like that of ripe lemons or egg yolks.


SIMPLE

The sun is bright yellow.

CONTEXTUAL

She painted the kitchen walls a cheerful, buttery yellow to make the room feel warmer.

COMPLEX

The old book's pages had turned a brittle, faded yellow, smelling faintly of dust and time.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English yelwe, yelou, from Old English ġeolwe, oblique form of Old English ġeolu, from Proto-West Germanic gelu, from Proto-Germanic gelwaz, from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰelh₃wós, from ǵʰelh₃- (“gleam, yellow”). Cognate with Scots yella (“yellow”), North Frisian gööl, güül (“yellow”), Saterland Frisian jeel (“yellow”), West Frisian giel (“yellow”), Cimbrian gel, ghéel (“yellow”), Dutch geel (“yellow”), Dutch Low Saxon gael, gel (“yellow”), German gelb, gehl (“yellow”), German Low German gel, geel, gęl, gäl (“yellow”), Luxembourgish giel (“yellow”), Vilamovian gaoł (“yellow”), Yiddish געל (gel), געלב (gelb, “yellow”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish gul (“yellow”), Faroese and Icelandic gulur (“yellow”). Compare also Welsh gell (“bay, tawny”), Latin helvus (“dull yellow”), Irish geal (“white, bright”), Italian giallo (“yellow”) Lithuanian žalias (“green”), Ancient Greek χλωρός (khlōrós, “light green”), Persian زرد (zard, “yellow”), Sanskrit हरि (hari, “greenish-yellow”), Russian жёлтый (žóltyj, “yellow”), Russian зелёный (zeljónyj, “green”). The verb is from Middle English yelwen, ȝalowen, ȝolewen, from Old English ġeolwian, from the adjective.

Etymology 2

From the colors used on traffic lights; yellow being the one for warning vehicles to stop soon.

Usage

Typically placed before the noun it modifies.

Idioms9 entries

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