Talk:Color
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 | This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (center, color, defense, realize, traveled) and some terms may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
 | The question of whether to spell the subject of this article as color or colour is covered by the Manual of Style and American and British English spelling differences. Proposals about spelling should be raised at Wikipedia:Village pump (policy). This talk page is for discussing the subject of color, not the spelling. |
The lead
The lead paragraph has gotten problematic again. It now reads:
Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum.
I have trouble understanding this. We had a pretty nice one in mid-2022:
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes.
and about six months before that:
Color (American English) or colour (Commonwealth English) is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called blue, green, red, etc.
Seems to me it's gotten less understandable with each iteration. There's a good reason that in September of 2021, we rolled the lead clear back to 2016, based on the discussion on top of this archive and what preceded it. I think we need to look backwards again. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 05:10, 11 April 2025 (UTC)
- Colour is derived from the electromagnetic spectrum, but is only a very small part of it. Also, other living things can perceive colour although they may not do it in exactly the same way as humans. The lead should make these things clear.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 07:06, 11 April 2025 (UTC)
- Agreed that the mid-2022 leading sentence is better than what is now. I would definitely not lead with something like "color is the quantity that is often described as blue, green, red, etc.", which is maybe useful in simple english, but would definitely not be useful information to anyone reading this article. Color is 99% a projection the EM spectrum. The extra 1% is just higher level corrections in the brain, which then brings human-centricity into account. No need to shy away from defining color starting most importantly with the EM spectrum. Curran919 (talk) 07:16, 28 April 2025 (UTC)
I agree....the old versions did a better job of explaining. Probably better than them all would be a summary that addresses the dichotomy. Some meanings "color" are technical (eg assigning color names to particular wavelengths/ frequencies) but most meanings are a human perceptions. North8000 (talk) 18:14, 23 April 2025 (UTC)
- Should ping @8-leaf clover, the editor responsible for these changes. I also think they're generally deleterious. Remsense ‥ 论 07:18, 28 April 2025 (UTC)
- Hi. While I honestly don't remember changing the lead (at least not significantly), I completely agree in that the 2022 one is much more accurate than the current one (which can create the misconception that color = wavelengths, making people believe false things like "magenta doesn't exist because it's not in the visible spectrum"). 8-leaf clover (talk) 11:50, 28 April 2025 (UTC)
The reality is that for the "what color is that?" question, about 98% of the time it's as described in the lead......a human perception. The other ~2% is assigning names to the wavelengths of monochromatic sources. If you go outside the "what color is that" question sphere, it also vaguely refers to anything involving wavelengths of visible light. E.G "color TV". We probably need to recognize this to really refine the lead. North8000 (talk) 03:10, 23 February 2026 (UTC)
Requested move 12 May 2025
- The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
The result of the move request was: Early close, not moved. This is not happening. Nominator cites WP:ENGVAR but shows no indication of reading it or understanding it, as it says precisely the opposite of what is presented. (non-admin closure) SnowFire (talk) 12:37, 12 May 2025 (UTC)
Color → Colour – The current title of the article, Color, uses the American English spelling. However, per Wikipedia’s guidelines for language variants outlined in WP:ENGVAR, the spelling Colour is the standard in British English and many other English dialects worldwide. The spelling Colour is used in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and various other Commonwealth nations. Additionally, the word Colour is also more consistent with the way other related topics are presented in global English contexts. Moving the page title to Colour would align it with international standards and make the article more reflective of global English usage, especially for readers in countries that primarily use British English. Changing the title would also help make the article more accessible to readers who expect to find terms written in the British English format. M1rrorCr0ss 01:27, 12 May 2025 (UTC)
- Oppose This article use American English spelling, and we cannot move the page unless we find a consensus about the change of Manual of Style regarding national varieties of English (see Wikipedia:Manual of Style#National varieties of English). Additionally, i'm never heard a move request regarding the name of this article before. 103.111.102.118 (talk) 02:53, 12 May 2025 (UTC)
- Oppose As an Australian editor I find the spelling in this article constantly jarring, but I have to admit that current policies force us to use a spelling I have to correct every time I see my students use it. HiLo48 (talk) 03:07, 12 May 2025 (UTC)
- Oppose This move request should not have been made, because there is an adequate explanation in the talk page header. Time for a speedy close here.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 06:55, 12 May 2025 (UTC)
- Yes, there's an explanation, but please be aware that for those of us outside the USA, "color" will always look like a spelling error made by someone with poor educational levels. This will happen again. HiLo48 (talk) 07:29, 12 May 2025 (UTC)
- Oppose per MOS:RETAIN. Although the spelling "color" may seem like spelling error for those lived outside the US and countries whose its English is more influenced by Americans (remember for those lived in Europe, Africa, and Commonwealth countries, "colour" is preferred spelling), there's already exist an explaination on talk page header regarding the spelling. So, i recommend the Speedy close of the discussion. 120.188.39.192 (talk) 09:22, 12 May 2025 (UTC)
- The article was created on 1 November 2001 with the spelling color. This is a non-stub version, so MOS:RETAIN applies, although the color/colour debate will undoubtedly continue.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 09:55, 12 May 2025 (UTC)
- I think it should be moved to Corn, or maybe Yogurt. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 11:48, 12 May 2025 (UTC)
Semi-protected edit request on 15 May 2025
 | This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request. |
Correct the misspelling of chromaticity before citation 44.
Change "In short: In optimal color solids, spectral colors are equivalent to black (0 lightness, 0 chroma), but have full spectral purity (they are located in the horseshoe-shaped spectral locus of the chromaticiy diagram).[44]"
To "In short: In optimal color solids, spectral colors are equivalent to black (0 lightness, 0 chroma), but have full spectral purity (they are located in the horseshoe-shaped spectral locus of the chromaticity diagram).[44]" Amber Diatribe (talk) 01:13, 15 May 2025 (UTC)
Done PianoDan (talk) 01:56, 15 May 2025 (UTC)
Accidentally sloppy writing
Under "Cultural perspective/Terminology", there's a sentence that begins "The pattern holds ..." - but there's no way of telling what "the pattern" is supposed to refer to. TooManyFingers (talk) 00:55, 12 August 2025 (UTC)
Optimal colors
Optimal colors is a really cool topic and the section on that summarizes the concept pretty well. but I think that the amount of space in emphasis it's given in this top level article is disproportionate but to its broader importance and emphasis in the field. Compare the number of words devoted to it here versus the number of words devoted to gamut.
Here are three possible solutions.
- Delete the section and put in a description and link to the main article, of one or two sentences. this could be in the reproduction section, in the same paragraph as gamut, although I have a little hesitation about that location because one might question whether optimal colors are about reproduction or just production.
- Change the optimal color section into a section on gamut, with a single paragraph on optimal colors.
- Leave the organization as is but edit the optimal colors section down to 1/3 or less of the length that is now.
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