primary color

primary color

n.

A color belonging to any of three groups each of which is regarded as generating all colors, with the groups being:

a. Additive, physiological, or light primaries red, green, and blue. Lights of red, green, and blue wavelengths may be mixed to produce all hues.

b. Subtractive or colorant primaries, such as magenta, yellow, and cyan (used by printers) or red, yellow, and blue (used by painters). Substances that reflect light of one of these wavelengths and absorb other wavelengths may be mixed to produce all hues.

c. Psychological primaries red, yellow, green, and blue, plus the achromatic pair black and white. All colors may be subjectively conceived as mixtures of these. See Table at color.

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.

pri′mary col′or

n.

a color, as red, yellow, or blue, that in mixture yields other colors.

[1605–15]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

primary color

Any of a group of colors from which all other colors can be made by mixing. See more at color.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

primary color - any of three colors from which all others can be obtained by mixing primary colour color, coloring, colouring, colour - a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect; "a white color is made up of many different wavelengths of light" primary color for pigments, primary colour for pigments - any of three pigments from which all colors can be obtained by mixing; "the primary colors for pigments are red, blue, and yellow" primary color for light, primary colour for light - any of three primary colors of light from which all colors can be obtained by additive mixing; "the primary colors for light are red, blue, and green"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.