coloration

American  

[kuhl-uh-rey-shuhn] / ˌkʌl əˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

1. appearance with regard to color arrangement or use of colors; coloring.

   the bold coloration of some birds.

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coloration British  

/ ˌkʌləˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. arrangement of colour and tones; colouring

2. the colouring or markings of insects, birds, etc See also apatetic aposematic cryptic

3. unwanted extraneous variations in the frequency response of a loudspeaker or listening environment

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Other Word Forms

• colorational adjective
• colorationally adverb
• decoloration noun
• overcoloration noun
• precoloration noun
• recoloration noun
• transcoloration noun

Etymology

Origin of coloration

First recorded in 1605–15; color + -ation

Example Sentences

Adult Irwin's wolf snakes have a glossy black coloration and can reach lengths of around one meter.

From Science Daily

And yet atollas gain their reddish coloration from pigments called porphyrins, which don’t absorb blue light all that well and which, if exposed to bright light, emit toxins.

From The Wall Street Journal

According to the researchers, this achievement not only deepens our understanding of the biological and chemical foundations of animal coloration, but also highlights a powerful new biotechnology.

From Science Daily

Not done waxing poetic about the eyes on the veritable Redford of retrievers, Leonberg also pointed out another benefit of his dog’s particular coloration.

From Salon

Arhgap36, a protein involved in many aspects of embryonic development, wasn’t previously known to affect skin or hair coloration.

From Science Magazine

Related Words

• glow
• hue
• intensity
• paint