# colored

Pronunciation: US say "KUL-urd" /ˈkʌləɹd/; UK say "KUL-uhd" /ˈkʌləd/

## Verb

1. Simple past tense and past participle of color. — simple past and past participle of color
   - Simple: Simple past tense and past participle of color. Use this form for coloring that already happened.
   - _He colored his hair a darker shade before the interview._
   - _The old map had been colored by hand._

## Adjective

2. Of a specified color or coloring, usually named by a word in front, as in brightly or differently colored.
   - Simple: Having one certain color or kind of color.
   - _The catalog lists the chairs in several differently colored finishes._
   - _Each ward used variously colored wristbands to identify patients._
3. Having a color, rather than being colorless.
   - Simple: Having some color rather than being clear or plain.
   - _The window used colored panes instead of clear ones._
   - _The liquid in the left flask was colored, while the right stayed transparent._
4. Having prominent or bright colors; colorful.
   - Simple: Full of bright, strong colors.
   - _The festival float was gaudily colored and impossible to miss._
   - _Tropical reefs are vividly colored compared with the gray waters above._
5. Influenced or biased, often subtly, by a particular attitude or feeling.
   - Simple: Changed by a strong opinion or feeling, so it is not fully fair or true.
   - _The review was colored by the critic's dislike of the director._
   - _Their account of the meeting seemed colored by wounded pride._
7. Belonging to a multiracial ethnic group of Southern Africa, with ancestry from more than one of the region's racial groups: black, white, and Asian. *(dialectal, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe)*
   - Simple: Belonging to a mixed-race group in Southern Africa with black, white, and Asian ancestry.
   - _The neighborhood was largely colored, with roots stretching back generations._
   - _Colored congregations often kept their own churches and traditions._
9. Designated for use by nonwhite people under racial segregation in the United States or apartheid in South Africa.
   - Simple: Set aside in the past for use only by nonwhite people, as under segregation in the US or apartheid in South Africa.
   - _A worn sign still marked the colored waiting room on the platform._
   - _Travelers were directed to the colored carriage at the rear of the train._

## Noun

6. An item of clothing that has color, separated from whites for washing.
   - Simple: A piece of clothing that has color, washed apart from white things.
   - _He pulled one dark colored out before starting the white load._
   - _The coloreds went into a separate basket from the whites._
8. A person of Southern Africa with ancestry from more than one of the region's racial groups: black, white, and Asian. *(South Africa)*
   - Simple: A person of mixed race in Southern Africa with black, white, and Asian ancestry.
   - _Her father, a colored, spoke both Afrikaans and English at home._
   - _Coloreds make up a large share of the population in Cape Town._

## Adjective

10. Of a person, having a skin color other than white, and in particular black. *(dated, US)*
   - Simple: Of a person, having skin that is not white, especially black.
   - _The census taker marked the whole family as colored on the form._
   - _In those years, colored passengers were forced to sit at the back of the bus._

## Noun

11. A person who is not white. *(dated, US)*
   - Simple: A person whose skin is not white.
   - _The sign declared that no colored would be served at that counter._
   - _Coloreds were barred from the public library until the 1960s._

## Origin

Formed from "color" combined with the suffix "-ed".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/colored (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).