Lava is a
color
Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...
that is a purplish shade of
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
. It is named after the color of volcanic
lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...
.
This is the color (color #CF1020, shown at right) of fresh lava pouring out of a
volcano
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...
.
The first recorded use of ''lava'' as a color name in
English was in 1891.
Variations of lava
Dark lava
The color dark lava is the color of lava that has cooled and begun to congeal into
igneous rock
Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.
The magma can be derived from partial ...
.
The
normalized color coordinates
Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science
* Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations
* Normalization model, used in v ...
for dark lava are identical to
taupe
Taupe ( ) is a dark gray-brown color. The word derives from the French noun ''taupe'' meaning " mole". The name originally referred only to the average color of the French mole, but beginning in the 1940s, its usage expanded to encompass a wi ...
, which came into use as a color name in English in the early 19th century;
[Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 205; Discussion of Color Taupe, Page 183; Color Sample of Taupe: Page 55 Plate 16 Color Sample A6]
References
See also
*
List 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 (alphabetical)
* List of colors by shade
* List of color palettes
* List of Crayola crayon colors
* List of RAL colours
* List o ...
{{shades of red
Shades of red