Uncommon Arabic Words for Colours

لَوْن

root: ل-و-ن / noun / plural: أَلْوان / definition: colour

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I opened my laptop intending to write a different type of post today, but when I saw a certain note in my phone, I decided that this Tuesday would be the start of a whole new series of posts: Uncommon Arabic Words for…

In the notes app on my phone, I have a few of these types of lists: uncommon Arabic prepositions, uncommon Arabic words for “cloud”, and—the newest one and the one I’m starting this series with—uncommon Arabic words for colours.

Now, this list isn’t at all extensive at the moment, but the idea with these Uncommon Arabic Words posts is that I’ll be updating them as and when I come across new words.

(And I’m hoping for some contributions from you all in the comments too!)

So without further ado, the current collection:

قانِئ / أَحمَر قانٍ

blood-red, deep-red

(easy to remember if you know the Turkish word for “blood”: kan)

عَندَمي

deep-red

رُمّاني

dark red

(the nisba adjective of رمّان, “pomegranate”)

قِرمِزي

scarlet, crimson

(Turkish has a related word for red: kırmızı)

زَرْقون

bright red

عَقيقي

carnelian-red

أَصهَب

red-brown, reddish

كُمَيت

reddish-brown, maroon

(the verb that shares its root with this word is quite interesting)

أَمغَر

reddish-brown

أَسفَع

dark brown

كَستَنائي

maroon, chestnut-coloured

خَمري

wine-coloured

بِرفير

purple

فِرفير

purple

(this and the previous one are word twins!)

نيلي

indigo

(related to النّيل, the Nile?)

مَناوِش / مَناوِشي

bluish purple

فَيْروزي

turquoise

أَسمانْجوني / سَمَنجوني / سَمانجوني

sky-blue, azure, cerulean

سَمائي / سَماوي

sky-blue, azure, cerulean

لازُوَردي

azure

كُحلي

dark blue, navy blue

(I was a bit surprised when I saw this definition in the dictionary, I would have expected the nisba adjective of كُحل to mean “black”)

أَشهَل

deep blue (for eyes)

حَشيشي

sap-green

زُمُرُّدي

emerald green

خاكي

khaki, earth-coloured

زَيتوني

olive-green

تِبني

straw-coloured

مِشمِشي

apricot-coloured

عَسَلي

honey-coloured, amber

عَسجَدي

golden

إبريزي

(pure) golden

أَشخَم

grey

أَشهَب

grey

أَرمَك

ash-grey

سَكَني

ash-grey

سِنجابي

ash-coloured, grey

(the nisba adjective of سنجاب, “a (grey) squirrel”)

رَصاصي

lead-coloured, dull grey

تُرابي

dust-coloured, grey

أَعفَر

dust-coloured, earth-coloured

حَلِك / حالِك

pitch-black

(you can find a form XIV verb from the root ح-ل-ك in this post—and yes, it’s related to the colour)

دَجوجي

clear or intense black

أَقتَم / قاتِم

blackish, dark

أَكمَد

blackish, dark

لُؤلُؤي

pearl-coloured, whitish

أَقمَر

moon-white, whitish

عاجي

ivory

That’s all I have on my list so far, hopefully I’ll have added some more when you next check back.

Feel free to add any other uncommon Arabic words for colours in the comments below, I look forward to reading your contributions!

!إلى اللقاء

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