yellow

[yel-oh] /ˈyɛl oʊ/
noun
1.
a color like that of egg yolk, ripe lemons, etc.; the primary color between green and orange in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 570 and 590 nm.
2.
the yolk of an egg.
3.
a yellow pigment or dye.
4.
Informal. yellow light.
5.
Slang. yellow jacket (def 2).
adjective, yellower, yellowest.
6.
of the color yellow.
7.
Offensive.
  1. designating or pertaining to an Asian person or Asian peoples.
  2. designating or pertaining to a person of mixed racial origin, especially of black and white heritage, whose skin is yellowish or yellowish brown.
8.
having a sallow or yellowish complexion.
9.
Informal. cowardly.
10.
  1. (of a newspaper, book, etc.) featuring articles, pictures, or other content that is sensational, especially morbidly or offensively so: yellow rags;
    yellow biographies.
  2. dishonest in editorial comment and the presentation of news, especially in sacrificing truth for sensationalism, as in yellow journalism; yellow press.
11.
jealous; envious.
verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
12.
to make or become yellow:
Yellow the sheets with dye. The white stationery had yellowed with age.
Origin
before 900; 1895-1900 for def 9; Middle English yelou (adj. and noun), Old English geolo, geolu (adj.); cognate with Dutch geel, German gelb, Latin helvus pale-yellow; akin to Old Norse gulr
Related forms
yellowly, adverb
yellowness, noun
Synonyms
9. craven, timorous, fearful.
Usage note
It is perceived as insulting to use yellow to describe a person of Asian or mixed racial origin, as in the terms yellow peril and high yellow.
Examples from the web for yellow
  • It's famous for its yellow color, which stains almost everything it comes in contact with-even your skin.
  • Jaundice is a yellow color in the skin, the mucous membranes, or the eyes.
  • Chicken stock is tasty, but it will color your dumplings yellow.
  • But the eyes of summer reindeer were yellow in color.
  • Found on everything from bumblebees to school buses, traffic signs to highlighters, yellow is a color that commands attention.
  • Sometimes the changes are simple, such as replacing all white color with grey, or red with yellow.
  • Green means they're doing well, yellow means they're faltering, and red means they might fail.
  • They range as some fuzzy blend of the original yellow with the background.
  • Bright red flower clusters with yellow florets in center.
  • Seen in the right light, yellow reef fish become spotty pains in the tail fin.
British Dictionary definitions for yellow

yellow

/ˈjɛləʊ/
noun
1.
any of a group of colours that vary in saturation but have the same hue. They lie in the approximate wavelength range 585–575 nanometres. Yellow is the complementary colour of blue and with cyan and magenta forms a set of primary colours related adjective xanthous
2.
a pigment or dye of or producing these colours
3.
yellow cloth or clothing: dressed in yellow
4.
the yolk of an egg
5.
a yellow ball in snooker, etc
6.
any of a group of pieridine butterflies the males of which have yellow or yellowish wings, esp the clouded yellows (Colias spp.) and the brimstone
adjective
7.
of the colour yellow
8.
yellowish in colour or having parts or marks that are yellowish: yellow jasmine
9.
having a yellowish skin; Mongoloid
10.
(informal) cowardly or afraid
11.
offensively sensational, as a cheap newspaper (esp in the phrase yellow press)
verb
12.
to make or become yellow
See also yellows
Derived Forms
yellowish, adjective
yellowly, adverb
yellowness, noun
yellowy, adjective
Word Origin
Old English geolu; related to Old Saxon, Old High German gelo, Old Norse gulr, Latin helvus
Word Origin and History for yellow
adj.

Old English geolu, geolwe, from Proto-Germanic *gelwaz (cf. Old Saxon, Old High German gelo, Middle Dutch ghele, Dutch geel, Middle High German gel, German gelb, Old Norse gulr, Swedish gul "yellow"), from PIE *ghel- "yellow, green" (see Chloe).

Meaning "light-skinned" (of blacks) first recorded 1808. Applied to Asiatics since 1787, though the first recorded reference is to Turkish words for inhabitants of India. Yellow peril translates German die gelbe gefahr. Sense of "cowardly" is 1856, of unknown origin; the color was traditionally associated rather with treachery. Yellow-bellied "cowardly" is from 1924, probably a rhyming reduplication of yellow; earlier yellow-belly was a sailor's name for a half-caste (1867) and a Texas term for Mexican soldiers (1842, based on the color of their uniforms). Yellow dog "mongrel" is attested from c.1770; slang sense of "contemptible person" first recorded 1881. Yellow fever attested from 1748, American English (jaundice is a symptom).

v.

"to become yellow," Old English geoluwian, from the source of yellow (adj.). Related: Yellowed; yellowing.

Slang definitions & phrases for yellow

yellow

adjective
  1. Cowardly; faint-hearted; chicken: Don't get into this race if you're yellow (1856+)
  2. Having light skin for a black person: You know that baker we hired. The yellow boy (1808+)
noun

Cowardice; poltroonery; excessive timidity: Most often in the expression ''yellow streak'' or ''streak of yellow'': I'm afraid he has a streak of yellow in him (1896+)

Related Terms

high yellow

[the origin of the coward sense is unknown; perhaps it is derived fr the traditional symbolic meanings of yellow, among which were ''deceitfulness, treachery, degradation, the light of hell'']


yellow in Technology


A language from SRI proposed to meet the Ironman requirements which led to Ada.
["On the YELLOW Language Submitted to the DoD", E.W. Dijkstra, SIGPLAN Notices 13(10):22-26, Oct 1978].
(1994-11-09)