beige

Etymology

Borrowed 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 bìgio), from Late Latin byssus 'cotton', from Ancient Greek βύσσος (bússos) 'cotton homespun', from Semitic (compare Hebrew/Aramaic בוץ‎ (būṣ))

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [beɪʒ], [beɪdʒ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʒ, -eɪdʒ

Noun

beige (plural beiges)

1. A slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.

   beige colour:  

2. Debeige; a kind of woollen or mixed dress goods.

Adjective

beige (comparative beiger or more beige, superlative beigest or most beige)

1. Having a slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.
   • 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 24, in Crime out of Mind‎:

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

2. (informal) Comfortably dull and unadventurous, in a way that suggests middle-class suburbia.
   • 2007, Prairie L. Markussen, Cover (page 48)

     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.

   • 2010, Gerald J. McCarthy, A Man of Substances

     In the beigest parts of suburbia where I grew up, bridge was a game played by groups of parents in recreation rooms furnished with upright pianos and souvenir sombreros.

   • 2016, Penelope Garcia, Criminal Minds, Season 11, Episode 2 “The Witness”

     Charlie reminds me of the color beige (...) He has no criminal record. He has no traffic tickets. His social media posts are just like... he's beige.

See also

• Appendix:Colors

Further reading

• beige on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology

From Dutch beige, from French beige.

Adjective

beige (attributive beige, comparative beiger, superlative beigeste)

1. beige

Etymology

Borrowed from French beige.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bɛʒə]

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

beige (comparative beiger, superlative meest beige or beigest)

1. beige

Alternative forms

• beesi, bees

Etymology

Borrowed from French beige.

Adjective

beige (comparative beigempi, superlative beigein)

1. beige

Noun

beige

1. beige (color)

Etymology

From Old French bege.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛʒ/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

beige (plural beiges)

1. beige

Descendants

Further reading

• “beige” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French beige.

Etymology 2

See etymology on the main entry.

Further reading

• beige in Duden online

Etymology

Borrowed from French beige.

Adjective

beige (masculine beigen, neuter beiget, comparative méi beige, superlative am beigesten)

1. beige

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [beis]

Adjective

beige (plural beige)

1. Alternative form of beis

Noun

beige m (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of beis

Further reading

• “beige” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Etymology

Attested from 1895. Borrowed from French beige. The slang definition is likely associated to the perceived blandness of the color.

Pronunciation

• (Swedish) IPA^(key): /beːɕ/, /bɛːɕ/
• Rhymes: -eːɕ

Adjective

beige

1. Beige.

   Hon hade en lång, beige kappa på sig.

   She wore a long, beige coat.

2. (slang) Boring, uninteresting, negative.

   Din morsa är så jävla beige!

   Your mother is so damn dull.