Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Yellow

Yel′low

(yĕl′lō̍)
,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Yellower
(yĕl′lō̍-ẽr)
;
sup
erl.
Yellowest
.]
[OE.
yelow
,
yelwe
,
ȝelow
,
ȝeoluw
, from AS.
geolu
; akin to D.
geel
, OS. & OHG.
gelo
, G.
gelb
, Icel.
gulr
, Sw.
gul
, Dan.
guul
, L.
helvus
light bay, Gr.
χλόν
young verdure,
χλωρόσ
greenish yellow, Skr.
hari
tawny, yellowish. √49. Cf.
Chlorine
,
Gall
a bitter liquid,
Gold
,
Yolk
.]
1.
Being of a bright saffronlike color; of the color of gold or brass; having the hue of that part of the rainbow, or of the solar spectrum, which is between the orange and the green.
Her
yellow
hair was browded [braided] in a tress.
Chaucer.
A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought
First fruits, the green ear and the
yellow
sheaf.
Milton.
The line of
yellow
light dies fast away.
Keble.
Yellow atrophy
(Med.)
,
a fatal affection of the liver, in which it undergoes fatty degeneration, and becomes rapidly smaller and of a deep yellow tinge. The marked symptoms are black vomit, delirium, convulsions, coma, and jaundice.
–
Yellow bark
,
calisaya bark.
–
Yellow bass
(Zool.)
,
a North American fresh-water bass (
Morone interrupta
) native of the lower parts of the Mississippi and its tributaries. It is yellow, with several more or less broken black stripes or bars. Called also
barfish
.
–
Yellow berry
.
(Bot.)
Same as
Persian berry
, under
Persian
.
–
Yellow boy
,
a gold coin, as a guinea.
[Slang]
Arbuthnot.
–
Yellow brier
.
(Bot.)
See under
Brier
.
–
Yellow bugle
(Bot.)
,
a European labiate plant (
Ajuga Chamaepitys
).
–
Yellow bunting
(Zool.)
,
the European yellow-hammer.
–
Yellow cat
(Zool.)
,
a yellow catfish; especially, the bashaw.
–
Yellow copperas
(Min.)
,
a hydrous sulphate of iron; – called also
copiapite
.
–
Yellow copper ore
,
a sulphide of copper and iron; copper pyrites. See
Chalcopyrite
.
–
Yellow cress
(Bot.)
,
a yellow-flowered, cruciferous plant (
Barbarea praecox
), sometimes grown as a salad plant.
–
Yellow dock
.
(Bot.)
See the Note under
Dock
.
–
Yellow earth
,
a yellowish clay, colored by iron, sometimes used as a yellow pigment.
–
Yellow fever
(Med.)
,
a malignant, contagious, febrile disease of warm climates, attended with jaundice, producing a yellow color of the skin, and with the black vomit. See
Black vomit
, in the Vocabulary.
–
Yellow flag
,
the quarantine flag. See under
Quarantine
, and 3d
Flag
.
–
Yellow jack
.
(a)
The yellow fever. See under 2d
Jack
.
(b)
The quarantine flag. See under
Quarantine
.
–
Yellow jacket
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of American social wasps of the genus
Vespa
, in which the color of the body is partly bright yellow. These wasps are noted for their irritability, and for their painful stings.
–
Yellow lead ore
(Min.)
,
wulfenite.
–
Yellow lemur
(Zool.)
,
the kinkajou.
–
Yellow macauco
(Zool.)
,
the kinkajou.
–
Yellow mackerel
(Zool.)
,
the jurel.
–
Yellow metal
.
Same as
Muntz metal
, under
Metal
.
–
Yellow ocher
(Min.)
,
an impure, earthy variety of brown iron ore, which is used as a pigment.
–
Yellow oxeye
(Bot.)
,
a yellow-flowered plant (
Chrysanthemum segetum
) closely related to the oxeye daisy.
–
Yellow perch
(Zool.)
,
the common American perch. See
Perch
.
–
Yellow pike
(Zool.)
,
the wall-eye.
–
Yellow pine
(Bot.)
,
any of several kinds of pine; also, their yellowish and generally durable timber. Among the most common are valuable species are
Pinus mitis
and
Pinus palustris
of the Eastern and Southern States, and
Pinus ponderosa
and
Pinus Arizonica
of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific States.
–
Yellow plover
(Zool.)
,
the golden plover.
–
Yellow precipitate
(Med. Chem.)
,
an oxide of mercury which is thrown down as an amorphous yellow powder on adding corrosive sublimate to limewater.
–
Yellow puccoon
.
(Bot.)
Same as
Orangeroot
.
–
Yellow rail
(Zool.)
,
a small American rail (
Porzana Noveboracensis
) in which the lower parts are dull yellow, darkest on the breast. The back is streaked with brownish yellow and with black, and spotted with white. Called also
yellow crake
.
–
Yellow rattle
,
Yellow rocket
.
(Bot.)
See under
Rattle
, and
Rocket
.
–
Yellow Sally
(Zool.)
,
a greenish or yellowish European stone fly of the genus
Chloroperla
; – so called by anglers.
–
Yellow sculpin
(Zool.)
,
the dragonet.
–
Yellow snake
(Zool.)
,
a West Indian boa (
Chilobothrus inornatus
) common in Jamaica. It becomes from eight to ten long. The body is yellowish or yellowish green, mixed with black, and anteriorly with black lines.
–
Yellow spot
.
(a)
(Anat.)
A small yellowish spot with a central pit, the fovea centralis, in the center of the retina where vision is most accurate. See
Eye
.
(b)
(Zool.)
A small American butterfly (
Polites Peckius
) of the Skipper family. Its wings are brownish, with a large, irregular, bright yellow spot on each of the hind wings, most conspicuous beneath. Called also
Peck’s skipper
. See Illust. under
Skipper
,
Noun.
, 5.
–
Yellow tit
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of crested titmice of the genus
Machlolophus
, native of India. The predominating colors of the plumage are yellow and green.
–
Yellow viper
(Zool.)
,
the fer-de-lance.
–
Yellow warbler
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of American warblers of the genus
Dendroica
in which the predominant color is yellow, especially
Dendroica aestiva
, which is a very abundant and familiar species; – called also
garden warbler
,
golden warbler
,
summer yellowbird
,
summer warbler
, and
yellow-poll warbler
.
–
Yellow wash
(Pharm.)
,
yellow oxide of mercury suspended in water, – a mixture prepared by adding corrosive sublimate to limewater.
–
Yellow wren
(Zool.)
(a)
The European willow warbler.
(b)
The European wood warbler.

Yel′low

,
Noun.
1.
A bright golden color, reflecting more light than any other except white; the color of that part of the spectrum which is between the orange and green.
“A long motley coat guarded with yellow.”
Shak.
2.
A yellow pigment.
Cadmium yellow
,
Chrome yellow
,
Indigo yellow
,
King's yellow
, etc.
See under
Cadmium
,
Chrome
, etc.
–
Naples yellow
,
a yellow amorphous pigment, used in oil, porcelain, and enamel painting, consisting of a basic lead metantimonate, obtained by fusing together tartar emetic lead nitrate, and common salt.
–
Patent yellow
(Old Chem.)
,
a yellow pigment consisting essentially of a lead oxychloride; – called also
Turner's yellow
.

Yel′low

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Yellowed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Yellowing
.]
To make yellow; to cause to have a yellow tinge or color; to dye yellow.

Yel′low

,
Verb.
I.
To become yellow or yellower.

Webster 1828 Edition

Yellow

YELLOW

,
Adj.
[G. See Gold.] Being of a bright color; the color of gold.

YELLOW

,
Noun.
A bright color, reflecting the most light of any, after white. It is one of the simple or primitive colors.

Definition 2024

yellow

yellow

English

Various shades of yellow

Alternative forms

Adjective

yellow ‎(comparative yellower, superlative yellowest)

  1. Having yellow as its colour.
    • Milton:
      A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought / First fruits, the green ear and the yellow sheaf.
    • Keble:
      The line of yellow light dies fast away.
    • 1911, J. Milton Hayes, "The green eye of the little yellow god,"
      There's a one-eyed yellow idol / To the north of Kathmandu; / There's a little marble cross below the town; / And a brokenhearted woman / Tends the grave of 'Mad' Carew, / While the yellow god for ever gazes down.
    • 1962 (quoting c. 1398 text), Hans Kurath & Sherman M. Kuhn, editors, Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-01044-8, page 1242:
      dorrẹ̅, dōrī adj. & n. […] Golden or reddish-yellow […] (a. 1398) *Trev. Barth. 59b/a: ȝelouȝ colour [of urine] […] tokeneþ febleness of hete […] dorrey & citrine & liȝt red tokeneþ mene.
  2. (informal) Lacking courage.
    • Monty Python
      You yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you!
  3. (publishing, journalism) Characterized by sensationalism, lurid content, and doubtful accuracy.
    • 2004, Doreen Carvajal, "Photo edict muffles gossipy press," International Herald Tribune, 4 Oct. (retrieved 29 July 2008),
      The denizens of the gossipy world of the pink press, purple prose and yellow tabloids are shivering over disputed photographs of Princess Caroline of Monaco.
  4. (chiefly derogatory, offensive) Far East Asian (relating to Asian people).
  5. (dated, Australia, offensive) of mixed Aboriginal and Caucasian ancestry
  6. (dated, US) High yellow.
    • 1933 September 9, James Thurber, “My Life and Hard Times—VI. A Sequence of Servants”, in The New Yorker:
      Charley threw her over for a yellow gal named Nancy: he never forgave Vashti for the vanishing from his life of a menace that had come to mean more to him than Vashti herself.
  7. (Britain, politics) Related to the Liberal Democrats.
    yellow constituencies
  8. (politics) Related to the Free Democratic Party of Germany.
    the black-yellow coalition

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

yellow ‎(plural yellows)

  1. The colour of gold, butter, or a lemon; the colour obtained by mixing green and red light, or by subtracting blue from white light.
    • 1892, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper
      It is the strangest yellow, that wall-paper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw—not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things.
  2. (US) The intermediate light in a set of three traffic lights, the illumination of which indicates that drivers should stop short of the intersection if it is safe to do so.
  3. (snooker) One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of 2 points.
  4. (pocket billiards) 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).
  5. (sports) yellow card
    • 2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2 - 1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport:
      Andrew Surman fired in what proved to be a 37th-minute winner before Forest's Paul Konchesky saw red late on. That second yellow for the loan signing came in stoppage time and did not affect the outcome of a game which Norwich dominated.

Synonyms

  • (intermediate light in a set of three traffic lights): amber (British)

Antonyms

  • (intermediate light in a set of three traffic lights): red, green

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

yellow ‎(third-person singular simple present yellows, present participle yellowing, simple past and past participle yellowed)

  1. (intransitive) To become yellow or more yellow.
    • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review Books 2006, page 47:
      Then suddenly, with the least warning, the sky yellows and the Chergui blows in from the Sahara, stinging the eyes and choking with its sandy, sticky breath.
  2. (transitive) To make (something) yellow or more yellow.

Translations

See also

Colors in English · colors, colours (layout · text)
     red      green      yellow      cream      white
     crimson      magenta      teal      lime      pink
     indigo      blue      orange      gray, grey      violet
     black      purple      brown      azure, sky blue      cyan

Etymology

From Middle English yelwe, yelou, from Old English ġeolu, ġeolwe, from Proto-Germanic *gelwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-wos (compare Welsh gwelw ‎(“pale”), Latin helvus ‎(“dull yellow”)), from *ǵʰelh₃- ‎(“gleam, yellow”) (compare Irish geal ‎(“white, bright”), Lithuanian žalias ‎(“green”), Ancient Greek χλωρός ‎(khlōrós, “light green”), Persian زر ‎(zar, “yellow”), Sanskrit हरि ‎(hari, “greenish-yellow”)).

The verb is from Old English ġeolwian, from the adjective.

Pronunciation

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