väritön

Väritön is a Finnish adjective meaning devoid of color or colorless. It describes something that does not have perceptible pigment and often appears transparent or nearly colorless to the human eye. The term is used in everyday language as well as in science, industry, and art to denote the absence of color or pigmentation.

Etymology: Väritön is formed from väri, color, with the negative suffix -tön, producing “without color.” The word is an ordinary Finnish adjective and declines like other -tön adjectives (eg, väritön, väritöntä, väritöntä vettä).

Usage and examples: In ordinary speech, väritön can refer to liquids, gases, or materials that lack hue, such as väritön vesi (colorless water) or väritön lasi (colorless glass). In science, colorlessness describes substances that do not absorb visible light, resulting in no visible color. Many pure liquids and some glasses are colorless, though impurities or additives can introduce color. In art and media, väritön is sometimes used to describe grayscale or noncolor imagery, though the common term for noncolor images is mustavalkoinen (black and white).

See also: Väri, värillinen, väri-ilmiö, läpinäkyvä, mustavalkoinen, värjäytyminen.