palette
palette Lexical Profile
palette Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The specific range or selection of colors used by a particular artist, designer, or within a specific artwork or visual medium.
"The film director used a muted palette of grays and blues to convey a sense of melancholy."
A unique range, variety, or set of qualities, such as musical tones, flavors, or stylistic elements, available for use in a specific context.
"The composer drew from a broad tonal palette, blending traditional orchestral instruments with electronic synthesizers."
A thin board or slab, traditionally made of wood and featuring a thumb hole, on which an artist lays and mixes paint colors.
"The painter held a wooden palette in one hand and a fine brush in the other."
Word Nuance & Usage
Care must be taken to distinguish 'palette' (an artist's color board or range of colors) from its homophones 'palate' (the roof of the mouth or sense of taste) and 'pallet' (a wooden shipping platform or makeshift bed).
• Rhymes for palette
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French 'palette', a diminutive of 'pale' (spade, shovel), originating from the Latin 'pala'. It originally referred to any flat blade before becoming specifically associated with an artist's tool in the early 17th century.