Coloris

Coloris is a term used in several contexts to refer to color and color schemes. In Latin, coloris is the genitive form of color, meaning "of color," and appears in scholarly and historical texts in that grammatical form. In French, coloris is a common noun meaning color, hue, or shade, and it is frequently used to discuss color in design, art, and fashion. In English, coloris is encountered mainly in specialized fields such as textiles, fashion, and art criticism, where it denotes a defined set of colors chosen for a product, collection, or design.

In textiles and fashion, coloris is often used to describe colorways or color palettes available for a garment or fabric. A single design might be offered in multiple coloris, providing different combinations of tones while preserving the overall pattern or cut. Catalogs and designers use the term to organize and communicate options to buyers and consumers.

In art and painting, coloris can refer to the treatment and arrangement of color within a composition—the coloristic aspect of a work. Historically, critics and writers sometimes used coloris to discuss harmony, contrast, and the emotional or atmospheric effects produced by color relationships, distinct from line, form, or structure.

Overall, coloris functions as a cross-lertilizing term linking languages to describe color in design, art, and material culture.