Etymograph

English

concolour

Concolour comes from Latin concolor ‘of the same colour or faction’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to cover’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-1‘to cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱélōs1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kelōs1reconstructed
  4. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcolōs1
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolor1‘color (US), colour (UK)’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconcolor2‘of the same colour or faction’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1650concolour2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin concolor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English concolour
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […]: “Thus in concolour animals and such as are confined…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-Wiktionary, Latin concolor‘to cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱélōsWiktionary, Latin concolorreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kelōsWiktionary, Latin concolorreconstructed
  4. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcolōsWiktionary, Latin concolor
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolorWiktionary, Latin concolor‘color (US), colour (UK)’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconcolorWiktionary, English concolour‘of the same colour or faction’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1650concolourWiktionary, English concolour. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […]: “Thus in concolour animals and such as are confined…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to cover’

hell, cell, hall, hole, ceiling, hull, helmet, holder, halt, helm, hollow, holden, uphold, occult, clandestine, sari, conceal, sala, cilia, recline, declination, declension, haugh, seel, halberd, hele, holing, 36 more

through Latin color ‘color (US), colour (UK)’

color, tricolour, 3 more

Today it means

adj Of the same colour; of uniform colour.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “concolour”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin concolor. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- / concolour