How To Use the Dictionary of Color Names
Meaning of a color name. Look up the name in section 15. It will be followed by the ISCC-NBS designation in abbreviated form:
B=blue
b=bluish
Br=brown
br brownish
brill. brilliant
d. dark
G=green
g=greenish
Gy=gray
gy.=grayish
l. light
m. = moderate
med.medium
O= orange
Ol olive
p.=pale
P=purple
p=purplish
Pk=pink
pk =pinkish
R=red
r=reddish
s. strong
v. very or
vivid
V=violet
Y=yellow
y=yellowish
See the color-name charts (section 13) for the color range of the designation in Munsell terms.
Example. Continental Blue (P). Section 15 shows the ISCC-NBS designation to be dark purplish gray (d.pGy). The color-name charts (section 13) show that its Munsell notation must lie between 9PB and 1R in hue, between 2.5 and 4.5 in value, and between 0.5 and 1.5 in chroma.
Source of a color name. Look up the name in section 15 and note the code letter following it (M, R, P, and so on). The sources and uses of the color names are as follows:
| Code | Source | Field |
| M | Maerz and Paul, Dictionary of Color, 1st ed. | General. |
| P | Plochere Color System | Interior decorating. |
| R | Ridgway, Color Standards and Color Nomenclature. | Biology, botany. |
| T | Taylor, Knoche, Granville, Descriptive Color Names Dictionary. | Mass market. |
| TC | Textile Color Card Association, Standard Color Card of America and U. S. Army Color Card. | Textile sales promotion. |
| A | American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists and Society of Dyers and Colourists. | Dyes. |
| B | Colour Terminology in Biology, H. A. Dade. | Biology. |
| F | Federal Specification TT-C-595, Colors; (for) Ready-Mixed Paints. | Paint. |
| H | Horticultural Colour Charts, R. F. Wilson. | Horticulture. |
| MUP | Commercial Standard CS147-47, Colors for Molded Urea Plastics. | Plastics. |
| PSP | Commercial Standard CS156-49, Colors for Polystyrene Plastics. | Plastics. |
| RC | National Research Council, Rock-Color Chart. | Rock colors. |
| S | Postage Stamp Color Names, William H. Beck. | Philately. |
| SC | U. S. Department of Agriculture Soil Color Charts. | Soil colors. |
Color range of name. Look up the name in section 15 and note the code letter following it (M, R, P, and so on) denoting its source. If the letter is F, H, M, MUP, P, PSP, R, or TC, the color name is defined by a single color chip and is intended to "pin point" that color. If the letter is A, B, RC, S, SC, or T, the name is defined by two or more color chips, and is intended to denote a range of colors of greater or lesser extent. To find the color range, note all of the ISCC-NBS designations given for the color name in section 15.
Example 1. Madonna. Section 15 shows the source code letter M and the ISCC-NBS abbreviations m. B and gy.B. This is a "pin-pointing" name for a color on the border between grayish blue and moderate blue; see the color-name charts. EXAMPLE 2. Yellow (S). Section 15 shows abbreviations for 27 ISCC-NBS designations including 1.Br, 1.yPk, v.Y, and v.O. Yellow is used in philately to refer to postage-stamp colors ranging from light brown and light yellowish pink on the one hand, to vivid yellow and vivid orange on the other. Color-name families. Look up the generic name in section 15. Immediately following the definitions of the name from various sources will be found listed the specific names formed by a preceding adjective or adjectives in the form of cross-index references. These will be followed by all of the color names formed by use of the generic name as an adjective.
Example. Blue. Section 15 shows five definitions of the generic name Blue. Then it lists 540 kinds of blue from Blue, Abstract to Blue, Zephyr. Following these are 115 names commencing with blue from Blue Appeal to Bluish White.
Exact synonyms of a color name. Look up the color name in section 15. If it is the key name for the color with less well-known synonyms defined by the same color chip, the synonyms will be found listed immediately after and indented under the key name. If it is a less well-known exact synonym of a key color name, section 15 will show in parentheses the key name preceded by "same as".
Example 1. Acacia. Section 15 shows eleven exact synonyms following Acacia, such as Gaude, Luteous, Olde and so on. EXAMPLE 2. Wode. Section 15 shows "Wode (same as Acacia)".
Near synonyms of a color name. Look up the color name in section 15 and note the key number following the abbreviation for the ISCC-NBS designation. Look up the key number in section 14 (pages 37 to 82). There, classified as to source, will be found all of the color names corresponding to this ISCC-NBS designation.
Example. Tabu. Section 15 shows the abbreviated ISCC-NBS designation to be gy.B with the key number 186. Under this key number section 14 shows 75 near synonyms from Maerz and Paul, 32 from Plochere, 32 from Ridgway, 32 from Taylor, Knoche, Granville, 12 from the Standard Color Card, and 27 from the other five sources.
The following abbreviations designate the branch of the U. S. Government using the color name:
| (Agr) | Department of Agriculture |
| (AN) | Army-Navy (See Army-Navy Aircraft Standard Colors and Army-Navy Aircraft Camouflage Standard Colors) |
| (BuOrd) | Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Department |
| (CAA) | Civil Aeronautics Administration, Department of Commerce |
| (Eng) | U. S. Engineers, U. S. Army |
| (FS) | Forest Service, Department of Agriculture |
| (MC) | U. S. Marine Corps, Navy Department |
| (MA) | Maritime Administration, Department of Commerce |
| (N) | Navy Department |
| (PC) | The Panama Canal |
| (PO) | Post Office Department |
| (PBS) | Public Buildings Service, General Services Administration |
| (PR) | Bureau of Public Roads, Department of Commerce |
| (QM) | Quartermaster Corps, U. S. Army |
| (SCS) | Soil Conservation Service, Department of Agriculture |
| (TC) | Transportation Corps, U. S. Army |
| (Y&D) | Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Department |
| (USA) | U. S. Army (See Supplement to U. S. Army Specification, 3-1, 1943; also U. S. Army Color Card published by the Textile Color Card Association) |
