Preface

Ever since the language of man began to develop, words or expressions have been used first to indicate and then to describe colors. Some of these have persisted throughout the centuries and are those which refer to the simple colors or ranges such as red or yellow. As the language developed, more and more color names were invented to describe the colors used by art and industry and in late years in the rapidly expanding field of sales promotion. Some of these refer to the pigment or dye used, as Ochre Red or Cochineal, or a geographical location of its source such as Naples Yellow or Byzantium. Later when it became clear that most colors are bought by or for women, many color names indicative of the beauties and wiles of the fair sex were introduced, as French Nude, Heart's Desire, Intimate Mood, or Vamp. Fanciful color names came into vogue such as Dream Fluff, Happy Day, Pearly Gates, and Wafted Feather. Do not suppose that these names are without economic importance; for a dark reddish gray hat for Milady might be a best seller if advertised as Mauve Wine whereas it probably would not if the color were called Paris Mud. Some color names, such as Blue Turquoise or Golden Poppy, are at the same time self-explanatory and also suited to the promotion of the sales of fabrics. Other color names are not what they seem, for how would one know that African Green is in reality a blue or that blue Fox will turn out to be a reddish gray? Literature is indeed richer because of such color names as Cold Morn, Folly, Kitten's Ear, Languid Lavender, Risigal, Teen Age Pink, and Zedoary Wash, and their precise meanings deserve to be systematically listed.

The purpose of this dictionary is to assist the scientist, businessman, and layman to understand the different color vocabularies used in the many fields of art, science, and industry. Some of these vocabularies are very similar, in fact they borrow from one another, while others are nearly or completely unintelligible to workers in another field. The dictionary will serve not only as a record of the meanings of the 7,500 individual color names listed but it will also enable anyone to translate from one color vocabulary to another. As an example, what is the meaning of GriseoViridis? This dictionary shows that Griseo-Viridis (biology)=Serpentine (fashion) == Mint Green (mass market), or in ordinary language, a light green.

The terms by which this dictionary defines color names are those of a refinement of the method of designating colors outlined by the Inter-Society Color Council and developed at the National Bureau of Standards. The Inter-Society Color Council (ISCC) consists of delegates from 20 societies of national scope interested in color, and of individual members. The present member bodies of the ISCC are:

The ISCC-NBS method of designating colors was published in the Journal of Research of the National Bureau of Standards 23, 355 (1939) RP1239. The InterSociety Color Council approved the refinement of this method and encouraged the Bureau to compile the dictionary; most of the data upon which the translation of the individual color names into ISCC-NBS equivalents is based were supplied by its individual members who also helped to check the voluminous tables. The particular contributions of these and other individuals are acknowledged at appropriate places in the text. The Bureau is glad indeed of this opportunity to point out the cooperative nature of this project.

The ISCC-NBS Method of Designating Colors and

A Dictionary of Color Names

Kenneth L. Kelly and Deane B. Judd

In 1939 there was published a Method of Designating Colors as a solution of the problem proposed by the first chairman of the Inter-Society Color Council, E. N. Gathercoal, who said: "A means of designating colors in the United States Pharmacopoeia, in the National Formulary, and in general pharmaceutical literature is desired; such designation to be sufficiently standardized as to be acceptable and usable by science, sufficiently broad to be appreciated and used by science, art and industry, and sufficiently commonplace to be understood, at least in a general way, by the whole public." This method was developed with the assistance of the American Pharmaceutical Association following plans outlined in 1933 by the Inter-Society Color Council. As a result of suggestions of the member bodies and individual members of the ISCC, a revision of the proposed system was made and approved by the Council in June 1949 and recommended for use in general color description. The revised ISCC-NBS color designations are defined in Munsell terms by 31 name charts, one for each of 31 ranges of Munsell hue. The ISCC-NBS equivalents of 7,500 color names previously defined by reference to 11 different sets of material standards have been determined and listed both alphabetically and by ISCC-NBS color designation to form a dictionary of color names.