palette

an artist’s paint board; the set of colors on such a board

Not to be confused with:

palate – the roof of the mouth; taste: a fine palate for gourmet food

pallet – bed; platform; a shaping tool used by potters

pal·ette

(păl′ĭt)

1. A board, typically with a hole for the thumb, which an artist can hold while painting and on which colors are mixed.

a. The range of colors used in a visual medium, in a picture, or by an artist: a limited palette.

b. Any similar set of elements or qualities, such as musical notes, used in a medium, in a composition, or by an artist.

[French, from Old French, small potter's shovel, diminutive of pale, shovel, spade, from Latin pāla; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

palette

(ˈpælɪt)

1. (Art Terms) Also: pallet a flat piece of wood, plastic, etc, used by artists as a surface on which to mix their paints

2. (Art Terms) the range of colours characteristic of a particular artist, painting, or school of painting: a restricted palette.

3. (Computer Science) the available range of colours or patterns that can be displayed by a computer on a visual display unit

4. (Arms & Armour (excluding Firearms)) either of the plates of metal attached by a strap to the cuirass in a suit of armour to protect the armpits

[C17: from French, diminutive of pale shovel, from Latin pala spade]

Usage: Avoid confusion with palate, pallet¹, pallet²

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pal•ette

(ˈpæl ɪt)

n.

1. a thin, usu. oval or oblong board or tablet used by painters for holding and mixing colors.

2. the set of colors on such a board.

3. the range of colors used by a particular artist.

4. the variety of techniques or range of any art: a composer's musical palette.

5. the complete range of colors made available by a computer graphics card, from which a user or program may choose those to be displayed.

[1615–25; < French, Middle French < Italian paletta, diminutive of pala shovel < Latin pāla]

palette

1. A flat surface used by a painter to mix colors, traditionally oblong with a hole for the thumb.

2. The range of colors available to a painter.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	palette - the range of colour characteristic of a particular artist or painting or school of art pallet ambit, range, scope, reach, compass, orbit - an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"; "a piano has a greater range than the human voice"; "the ambit of municipal legislation"; "within the compass of this article"; "within the scope of an investigation"; "outside the reach of the law"; "in the political orbit of a world power"
	2.	palette - board that provides a flat surface on which artists mix paints and the range of colors used pallet board - a flat piece of material designed for a special purpose; "he nailed boards across the windows"
	3.	palette - one of the rounded armor plates at the armpits of a suit of armor pallette armor plate, armor plating, armour plate, plate armor, plate armour - specially hardened steel plate used to protect fortifications or vehicles from enemy fire body armor, body armour, cataphract, coat of mail, suit of armor, suit of armour - armor that protects the wearer's whole body

palette

noun see palate

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

لَوْحَة ألوان الرَسّام

paleta

palet

Palette

palette

paletta

litaspjald

paletė

palette

[ˈpælɪt]

A. N → paleta f

B. CPD palette knife N → espátula f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

palette

[ˈpælət] n

(for mixing paints) → palette f

(= range of colours) → palette fpalette knife n [palette knives] (pl) → spatule f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

palette

n → Palette f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

palette

[ˈpælɪt] n → tavolozza

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

palette

(ˈpӕlit) noun

a small flat piece of wood etc, with a hole for the thumb, on which an artist mixes his colours.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

He gave a gasp of relief when he beheld me, full of life, with my palette on my thumb, gazing fondly on my new canvas.

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The quadroon sat for hours before Edna's palette, patient as a savage, while the house-maid took charge of the children, and the drawing-room went undusted.

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The artist stared a moment, gave a little pout, shrugged her shoulders, put down her palette and brushes, and stood rubbing her hands.

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Her absorption seemed so great that she sat down before her easel, opened her color-box, took up her brushes, drew on her brown sleeves, arranged her apron, looked at her picture, examined her palette, without, apparently, thinking of what she was doing.

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She looked, indeed, like one of those wonderful boys of the Italian Renaissance, whom you may still see at the National Gallery, whose beauty is no denial, but rather the stamp of their slender, supple strength, young painters and sculptors who held the palette for Leonardo, or wielded the chisel for Michelangelo, and anon threw both aside to take up sword for Guelf or Ghibelline in the narrow streets of Florence.

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It was marvellous, a feast for the eyes, this complication of coloured tints, a perfect kaleidoscope of green, yellow, orange, violet, indigo, and blue; in one word, the whole palette of an enthusiastic colourist!

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To our surprise, we were ushered into a room where the first object that met the eye was a painter's easel, with a table beside it covered with rolls of canvas, bottles of oil and varnish, palette, brushes, paints, &c.

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He was seen at once rummaging with ardor in an old box, in which he found some brushes, a little gnawed by the rats, but still passable; some colors in bladders almost dried up; some linseed-oil in a bottle, and a palette which had formerly belonged to Bronzino, that dieu de la pittoure, as the ultramontane artist, in his ever young enthusiasm, always called him.

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I conclude that he belongs to the artistic classes, he is so easily elated and depressed; and because he carries his left thumb curiously, as if it were feeling for the hole of a palette, I have entered his name among the painters.

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Alban was clearing his palette, after a hard day's work at the cottage.

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Fentolin was sitting before the open window, an easel in front of him, a palette in his left hand, painting with deft, swift touches.

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What palette is rich enough in colors to reproduce so magnificent a spectacle?

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