yellow
Meanings
Plural: yellows
Noun
- yellow color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of sunflowers or ripe lemons
- The color of sunflower petals and lemons; the color obtained by mixing green and red light, or by subtracting blue from white light; the color evoked by light of wavelength around 580 nm; one of the three primary colors in subtractive color systems.
- The mid light in a set of three traffic lights, the lighting of which indicates that drivers should stop short of the intersection if it is safe to do so.
- One of the color balls used in snooker, with a value of 2 points.
- One of two groups of object balls, or a ball from that group, as used in the principally British version of pool that makes use of unnumbered balls (the yellow(s) and red(s)); contrast stripes and solids in the originally American version with numbered balls).
- A yellow card.
- Any of various pierid butterflies of the subfamily Coliadinae, especially the yellow colored species. Compare sulphur.
Verb
- turn yellow
- "The pages of the book began to yellow"
- To become yellow or more yellow.
- To make (something) yellow or more yellow.
Adjective Satellite
- of the color intermediate between green and orange in the color spectrum; of something resembling the color of an egg yolk
- easily frightened
- changed to a yellowish color by age
- "yellowed parchment"
- typical of tabloids
- "yellow press"
- cowardly or treacherous; -M.W.Straight
- "the little yellow stain of treason"
- "too yellow to stand and fight"
- affected by jaundice which causes yellowing of skin etc
Adj
- Of a yellow hue.
- Lacking courage.
- Characterized by sensationalism, lurid content, and doubtful accuracy.
- Of a hue attributed to Far East Asians, especially the Chinese.
- Far East Asian (relating to Asian people).
- Of mixed Aboriginal and Caucasian ancestry.
- Synonym of high yellow.
- Related to the Liberal Democrats.
- Related to the Free Democratic Party, a political party in Germany.
Origin / Etymology
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 *ǵʰelh₃wos, from *ǵʰelh₃- (“gleam, yellow”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian jel, jeel (“yellow”), West Frisian giel (“yellow”), Dutch geel (“yellow”), German Low German geel (“yellow”), German gelb (“yellow”), Swedish gul (“yellow”), 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.
Synonyms
amber, blond, chicken, chickenhearted, cowardly, cream, dandelion, gold, high yellow, icteric, jaundiced, khaki, lemon, lily-livered, scandalmongering, sensationalistic, white-livered, xantho-, xanthous, yellow, yellow-bellied, yellowed, yellowish, yellowness
Scrabble Score: 12
yellow is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordyellow is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
yellow is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary