aquarelle

American  

[ak-wuh-rel, ah-kwuh-, a-kwa-rel] / ˌæk wəˈrɛl, ˌɑ kwə-, a kwaˈrɛl /

noun

plural

aquarelles

1. a watercolor.

2. Printing. a printed picture that has been colored manually by applying watercolor through stencils, each color requiring a different stencil.

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aquarelle British  

/ ˌækwəˈrɛl /

noun

1. a method of watercolour painting in transparent washes

2. a painting done in this way

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Other Word Forms

• aquarellist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of aquarelle

1865–70; < French < Italian acquarella (now obsolete) watercolor, equivalent to Latin aquār ( ius ) of water ( see aquarium) + Italian -ella -elle

Example Sentences

This collection’s pink and white aquarelle palette evoked the vibrant style of the Ballets Russes as envisioned by Léon Bakst and Sergei Diaghilev.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 23, 2024

For it's a blue-shift world we occupy, Dilemma-prone, clear-cut solutions rare, And clashing viewpoints often held at bay By hues, just short of violet, that eschew Sharp contrasts for an azure aquarelle.

From Scientific American • Sep. 7, 2022

Gustave Doré had made some very clever caricatures of some events which he had drawn beautifully and touched off with aquarelle, as he alone could do it.

From In the Courts of Memory, 1858 1875; from Contemporary Letters by Hegermann-Lindencrone, L. de (Lillie de)

For here is the quintessence of intellectualized aquarelle, and these touches would surely have brought into being another "Pierrot of the Minute"—a new line drawing out of a period he knew and loved well.

From Adventures in the Arts Informal Chapters on Painters, Vaudeville, and Poets by Hartley, Marsden

He looked out between whiles at the pleasant English land, an April aquarelle washed in with wondrous breadth.

From Some Short Stories [by Henry James] by James, Henry