Ecru is still defined by some dictionaries as the colour of unbleached
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
, which it still is in French (hex code = #FEFEE0 ), but it is now used for a quite different, much darker color in English.
Traditionally ecru was considered a shade of
beige
Beige is variously described as a pale sandy fawn color, a grayish tan, a light-grayish yellowish brown, or a pale to grayish yellow. It takes its name from French, where the word originally meant natural wool that has been neither bleached nor ...
, but beginning in the 19th century it became more precisely defined as "a grayish yellow that is greener and paler than chamois or old ivory". Ecru comes from the French word ''écru'' for the color of unbleached linen, and the word means "raw, unbleached" in French.
It has also been known as "the colour of silk".
The
normalized colour coordinates for ecru are identical to
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class ...
, which was first recorded as a colour name in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
in 1627.
[Maerz & Paul, p. 203; Color Sample of Sand: p. 49 Plate 13 Color Sample B2]
See also
*
Lists of colors
These are the lists of colors;
* List of colors: A–F
* List of colors: G–M
* List of colors: N–Z
* List of colors (compact)
* List of colors by shade
* List of color palettes
* List of Crayola crayon colors
* List of RAL colors
* List of X ...
References
Bibliography
*
Citations
External links
''ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names'' (1955) – "Color Sample of Ecru (colour sample #90)"
Shades of brown
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