Page:Color standards and color nomenclature (Ridgway, 1912).djvu/32

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Color Standards and Nomenclature.

terms. It is not strictly correct to say a "dark tint" or light shade" of any color, because a tint implies a color paler than the full color, while a shade means exactly the opposite; and to say an "orange shade (or tint) of red," a "greenish shade (or tint) of blue," a "bluish shade (or tint) of violet," etc., is an absurdity, for the term hue, which specifically and alone refers to relative position in the spectrum scale, without reference to lightness or darkness, is the only one which can correctly be used in such cases.

Indeed the standardization of color terms is almost if not quite as important, in the interest of educational progress, as that of the colors themselves and their names; therefore, to make easy a clear understanding of the specific meaning of each, the following definitions are given:—

Color.—The term of widest application, being the only one which can be used to cover the entire, range of chromatic manifestation; that is to say, the spectrum colors (together with those between violet and red, not shown in the spectrum) with all their innumerable variations of luminosity, mixture, etc. In a more restricted sense, applied to the six distinct spectrum colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet), which are sometimes distinguished as fundamental colors or spectrum colors.

Hue.—While often used interchangeably or synonymously with color, the term hue is more properly restricted by special application to those lying between any contiguous pair of spectrum colors (also between violet and purple and between purple and red); as an orange hue (not shade or tint, as so often incorrectly said) of red; a yellow hue of orange; a greenish hue of yellow, a bluish hue of green; a violet hue of blue, etc.

Tint.—Any color (pure or broken) weakened by high illumination or (in the case of pigments) by ad-