Recolor

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To alter the original color of an object or image, giving it a different hue or shade
2. Changing the hue or tone of an item or picture by applying a new color
3. Modifying the appearance of something by replacing its existing colors with new ones

Etymology: "Recolor" is a plain formation: the prefix "re-", meaning "again" or "anew", attached to "color". Its second half traces back through Latin "color" to an Indo-European root, *ḱel-, which is also the ancestor of "celare" ("to conceal") in Latin, though that connection is not part of this word's own path. In English the sense is simple and literal: to give something a new hue, whether a painted wall, a photograph, or a digital image. The history of the prefix is the more layered part. "Re-" came into Latin as a prefix meaning "back" or "again," passed into Old French as "re-," and entered Middle English through that French route. From there English freely attached it to existing verbs, so "recolor" was built on top of an already-established word rather than borrowed as a finished unit.

Synonyms: tint, shade, dye, paint, color

Antonyms: decolor, bleach