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“Colors” or “Colours”

Language

Colors and colours are both English terms.

Usage

Colors is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English (en-US) while colours is predominantly used in 🇬🇧 British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) (en-GB).

In terms of actual appearance and usage, here's a breakdown by country, with usage level out of 100 (if available):

Term US UK India Philippines Canada Australia Liberia Ireland New Zealand Jamaica Trinidad & Tobago Guyana
colors 99 22 43 97 59 20 91 23 26 57 58 58
colours 1 78 57 3 41 80 9 77 74 43 42 42

  • In the United States, there is a preference for "colors" over "colours" (99 to 1).
  • In the United Kingdom, there is a 78 to 22 preference for "colours" over "colors".
  • In India, there is a 57 to 43 preference for "colours" over "colors".
  • In the Philippines, there is a preference for "colors" over "colours" (97 to 3).
  • In Canada, there is a preference for "colors" over "colours" (59 to 41).
  • In Australia, there is a 80 to 20 preference for "colours" over "colors".
  • In Liberia, there is a preference for "colors" over "colours" (91 to 9).
  • In Ireland, there is a 77 to 23 preference for "colours" over "colors".
  • In New Zealand, there is a 74 to 26 preference for "colours" over "colors".
  • In Jamaica, there is a preference for "colors" over "colours" (57 to 43).
  • In Trinidad & Tobago, there is a preference for "colors" over "colours" (58 to 42).
  • In Guyana, there is a preference for "colors" over "colours" (58 to 42).
Examples

Below, we provide some examples of when to use colors or colours with sample sentences.

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Examples in Context

Examples of “colors”

  • …Colonești, changing its name and colors.
  • …Hotshots and reverted the team colors to red, yellow and white.
  • …through the use of bright colors.
  • …press for printing in several colors.
  • …manufacturers began using bright, distinctive colors for branding (e.g., Allis-Chalmers orange).
  • Precipitate colors
  • …phrase ubhau varnav (literally, "both colors").
  • …SI/SO escape sequences, and support colors and animation.
  • …value is coded by (pseudo) colors.
  • The colors' hexadecimal values are approximated below.

Examples of “colours”

  • …tradition of rich, subtly varying, colours in oil painting.
  • …and gold as the school colours, based on those at Aberdeen…
  • The home colours are green and yellow and…
  • Bonzet ran in the colours of Bellville Athletics club
  • …the chest, representing the traditional colours and design of the flag…
  • The Regimental Colours of the 57th and the…
  • …paintings, by expanses of solid colours, pure, vigorous, intense and luminous…
  • …near the end of Flying Colours, a 1938 Horatio Hornblower novel…
  • President's colours
  • …racing in Huon Rowing Club colours in 2014.


(Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license.)


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