colouring

colouring — noun

1. the natural tones in somebody's skin, hair, and eyes that together give them the

1.nounA2
Definition

the natural tones in somebody's skin, hair, and eyes that together give them their distinctive look.

Example

Leila inherited her mother's dark colouring and tall frame.

uncountable: 'colouring' takes singular verb

People with very fair colouring burn more easily in the sun.

collocation: fair colouring

Common collocations
  • fair colouring
  • dark colouring
  • striking colouring
  • similar colouring
Synonyms
  • complexion

    focuses only on skin, not hair or eyes

  • looks

    broader — includes features beyond colour (e.g. bone structure)

  • appearance

    general term covering all visual aspects, not just colour

Usage Note

British spelling (US: coloring). This sense is uncountable and cannot be used in the plural.

Common Mistakes

Her colourings are very striking.
Her colouring is very striking.
This sense is uncountable; do not add -s.
I love the coloring of her hair.' (using US spelling in a British context)
I love the colouring of her hair.
Use British spelling for consistency in British English contexts.

2. a natural or artificial ingredient that changes what colour a food or drink has.

2.nounB1
Definition

a natural or artificial ingredient that changes what colour a food or drink has.

Example

Theo reads every label and avoids products with artificial colouring.

collocation: artificial colouring

This strawberry yoghurt gets its pink colouring from beetroot juice.

uncountable: general substance

Common collocations
  • artificial colouring
  • natural colouring
  • food colouring
  • yellow colouring
  • red colouring
Synonyms
  • dye

    broader — used for textiles, hair, and other materials, not just food

  • pigment

    more technical; often refers to natural colour in plants or paint

  • additive

    broader — includes preservatives, flavourings, not just colour

Usage Note

British spelling (US: coloring). When referring to the substance in general, use uncountable ('artificial colouring'). When listing different types, use countable plural ('various colourings').

Common Mistakes

This candy contains colour.' (when meaning artificial additive).
This candy contains colouring.
'Colour' is the general visual property; 'colouring' is the added substance.
I bought a food colouring at the shop.' (when the context mentions a bottle of red liquid).
I bought a food colouring at the shop.
'Food colouring' is correct as an uncountable reference to the type of product.

3. the set of colours that appear on or in something in nature, such as a plant, an

3.nounA2
Definition

the set of colours that appear on or in something in nature, such as a plant, animal, or landscape.

Example

The butterfly's colouring helps it blend in with the tree bark.

uncountable describing natural camouflage

Scientists study the colouring of reef fish to understand mating signals.

Common collocations
  • protective colouring
  • bright colouring
  • autumn colouring
  • winter colouring
  • natural colouring
Synonyms
  • colouration

    more formal; common in scientific writing

  • hue

    refers to one specific colour, not the whole set

  • shade

    refers to a variation of one colour, not the overall colour scheme

Usage Note

British spelling (US: coloring). Uncountable. Common in biology and nature contexts. Often appears with seasonal or descriptive modifiers (autumn, winter, protective, bright).

Common Mistakes

The colourings of autumn are beautiful.' (using plural).
The colouring of autumn is beautiful.
This sense is uncountable.
The colouring of the leaves are changing.
The colouring of the leaves is changing.
Subject is 'colouring' (singular), not 'leaves'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/3

These four words all relate to colour in nature, but they differ in scope and formality. 'Colouration' (also spelled 'coloration') is the formal equivalent of 'colouring' and is preferred in scientific papers ('the colouration of the Arctic fox changes with the seasons'). 'Hue' picks out one colour from a set, often along a spectrum ('the leaves shifted from green to a warm golden hue'). 'Shade' is narrower still — it describes how light or dark a single hue is ('a deep shade of crimson'). 'Pigment' refers to the natural chemical substance inside cells that produces colour, not the visual result ('the red pigment in flamingo feathers comes from their diet'). For everyday descriptions of an animal's overall colour appearance, use 'colouring' (e.g., 'the frog's colouring warned predators it was poisonous'). For formal writing, use 'colouration'. Reserve 'hue' for a single identifiable colour and 'shade' for its lightness or darkness.

colourationhueshade ↗pigment ↗

Etymology

LatinAnglo-NormanFrenchEnglish

The noun 'colouring' comes from the verb 'colour', which entered English from Anglo-Norman 'colourer' and Old French 'colorer', both from Latin 'colorare' (to give colour). The suffix '-ing' turns the action of colouring into a noun that can mean either the process or its result. The spelling 'colour' (with -our) was adopted from French and remained standard in British English, while American English simplified it to 'color' under the influence of Noah Webster's spelling reforms in the early 19th century.