Mauve
/moʊv/noun
A pale purple color resembling the flowers of the mallow plant.
Did you know?The color became famous after William Henry Perkin accidentally created mauveine, the first commercially successful synthetic dye, while attempting to make quinine in 1856.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*mal-
“Possibly associated with soft or tender plants; the exact root history is uncertain.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
μαλάχη (malákhē)
“Mallow, a plant traditionally valued for its softening properties.”
Classical Latin
Latin
malva
“Mallow plant.”
Middle French
French
mauve
“The mallow plant and its characteristic purple color.”
Late 18th Century
English
mauve
“A pale purple color, adopted from French.”
1856 onward
English
mauve
“A fashionable dye color popularized by Perkin’s synthetic mauveine.”
Explore more surprising origins