coloured
UK[ˈkʌləd]US[ˈkʌlərd]
adj
having a colour or colours, especially a colour other than black or white
adj
(of a person) belonging to a race of people who are not white, especially as considered under apartheid in south africa (dated and offensive in many contexts)
adj
influenced or biased
Morpheme Breakdown
colour
ed
colour
ed
Etymology
the word 'coloured' is formed by adding the english adjectival suffix '-ed' to the noun 'colour'. the noun 'colour' itself entered english from old french colour, which derived from latin color, likely from an older indo-european root meaning 'to cover' or 'to conceal', reflecting the idea of an outward appearance or hue that covers a surface. the suffix '-ed' is a native english morpheme used to create participial adjectives, giving the sense of 'having the quality of' or 'characterized by'. thus, the literal construction 'having colour' evolved from a simple descriptive term to also acquire specific social and figurative meanings, such as indicating racial categorization or bias.
Analysis
Structure: colour + ed
colour (from latin color, via old french colour, meaning hue, appearance); ed (from old english -od/-ad, a suffix forming adjectives from nouns or verbs, indicating possession or being characterized by)
Examples
she wore a brightly coloured scarf.
the children enjoyed using coloured pencils to draw.
his opinion was heavily coloured by his personal experiences.