palette

Everyday

1. A flat board or tray that an artist uses to hold and mix paints. tree →
2. The set of colours used in a painting, a room, a design or a computer program: "a palette of blues and greens". tree →
3. A range of things to choose from, such as sounds or flavours. tree →

In the lessons

In art lessons, you mix colours on a palette. In design and computing, a colour palette is the group of colours you choose from. In writing about art or food, "palette" can mean a range of colours or flavours (but taste itself is "palate").

Examples

• Squeeze some red and white paint onto your palette. tree →
• She mixed pink on her palette. tree →
• The painting uses a palette of soft greens. tree →
• Pick a colour from the palette at the top of the screen. tree →
• Wash your palette before the paint dries. tree →
• The autumn trees showed a palette of red, orange and gold. tree →

Note

Countable: a palette, palettes. Homophone traps: palette (paints), palate (roof of the mouth, sense of taste), pallet (wooden platform for goods, or a straw bed). All three sound the same: "PAL-it".