Lably
Skip to content

Maroon

Reddish-brown color

  • 6 min read
  • 3 chapters
Italy, circa 1450 Textiles; textile lengths Silk velvet, two-height cut piles, with brocaded metallic threads 9 x 9 x 13 in. (22.86 x 22.86 x 33.02 cm) irregular triangle Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch F
Unknown author · Public domain

Related on Lably

Through Brown and Australia

Lab · Class 6–8The Science of CookingLab · Class 6–12Archaeology & Discovery

Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, include burgundy, claret, mulberry, and crimson.

Different dictionaries define maroon differently. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines maroon as a dark reddish-purple color while its "American Dictionary" section defines maroon as dark brown-red. Lexico online dictionary defines maroon as a brownish-red. Similarly, Dictionary.com defines maroon as a dark brownish-red. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes maroon as "a brownish-crimson or claret colour," while the Merriam-Webster online dictionary simply defines it as a dark red.

In the sRGB color model for additive color representation, the web color called maroon is created by turning down the brightness of pure red to about one half. It is also noted that maroon is the complement of the web color called teal.

Etymology

Maroon is French marron ("chestnut"), itself from the Italian marrone that also means "chestnut" and "brown" from the medieval Greek maraon.

The first recorded use of maroon as a color name in English was in 1789.

Sign in to keep reading

2 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Physics

PhysicsScientific field of studyUltravioletForm of electromagnetic radiationIonParticle, atom or molecule with a net electrical chargeElectronElementary particle with negative chargeQuantum mechanicsDescription of physical properties at the atomic and subatomic scaleDigital object identifierISO standard unique string identifier for a digital object