Colorist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A specialist who enhances hair with color and also works in applying hues in visual art projects
2. An expert in the field of hair coloring and a practitioner who creatively uses colors within artistic endeavors
3. A professional who applies pigments to hair and also engages in creating color schemes for various art forms

Etymology: "Colorist" is a plain English formation: the noun "color" with the agent suffix "-ist," which marks a person who practises or works with something. The suffix itself came into English through Middle English from Old French, and it traces back through Latin and ancient Greek, where the same ending built words for practitioners and adherents. "Color" entered English through Anglo-Norman from Latin "color," and the spelling with -or is the American form of the older British "colour." The word's history is short and fairly transparent. Its meaning has widened over time: where it once could only describe someone who applied pigment or dye, it now names two distinct specialists. One is the hairdresser who chooses and applies shades to hair. The other is the artist or technician who adds or adjusts hues in painting, printing, photography, or film.

Synonyms: painter, illustrator