secondary colours
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Those which result from the mixture of two or more primary colours, such as orange, green, and purple.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “secondary colours” mean?
Those which result from the mixture of two or more primary colours, such as orange, green, and purple.
Is “secondary colours” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.