Colourers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who applies or adds hue to objects, often in artistic endeavors
2. an individual responsible for tinting or painting surfaces to create visual appeal
3. a professional engaged in the process of dyeing or pigmented finishing of materials

Etymology: "Colourers" is simply the plural of "colourer", a noun built from "colour" with the agent suffix "-er", which marks a person or thing that performs an action. A colourer is therefore one who colours, and the plural adds the usual "-s" for more than one such person. The base word "colour" reaches English through Old French "color" from Latin "color", meaning hue or complexion. The suffix "-er" was added to it in English, so the formation is transparent: the noun names whoever applies colour, whether in painting, dyeing or tinting. Because the word is a straightforward combination of two familiar parts, its history is mainly the history of "colour" itself.