Beige

//ˈbeɪʒ// adj, noun, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Having a slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.

    "Dagobert had only one customer, an American who wore square, rimless glasses and a beige suit and looked like a Wall Street tycoon."

  2. 2
    Comfortably dull and unadventurous, in a way that suggests middle-class suburbia. informal

    "Think about it: he grew up in Iowa, the beigest of states, was doted on, loved generously by his parents, the top of his class, probably voted Most Handsome of 2000."

Adjective
  1. 1
    of a light greyish-brown color wordnet
Noun
  1. 1
    A slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    a very light brown wordnet
  3. 3
    Debeige; a kind of woollen or mixed dress goods. countable, uncountable

Etymology

Etymology 1

Unadapted borrowing from French (dialectal) beige, from Old French bege (“color of undyed wool or cotton”), from an Alpine language (compare Franco-Provençal bézho, Romansch besch (“dull grey”)), from Vulgar Latin *bysseus (“cottony grey”) (compare French bis, Catalan bis, Italian bigio), from Late Latin byssus (“cotton”), from Ancient Greek βύσσος (bússos, “cotton homespun”), from Semitic (compare Hebrew/Aramaic בוץ (būṣ)). Doublet of bice.

Etymology 2

Unadapted borrowing from French (dialectal) beige, from Old French bege (“color of undyed wool or cotton”), from an Alpine language (compare Franco-Provençal bézho, Romansch besch (“dull grey”)), from Vulgar Latin *bysseus (“cottony grey”) (compare French bis, Catalan bis, Italian bigio), from Late Latin byssus (“cotton”), from Ancient Greek βύσσος (bússos, “cotton homespun”), from Semitic (compare Hebrew/Aramaic בוץ (būṣ)). Doublet of bice.

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