红色和黄色是秋天的代表颜色，但除了red和yellow之外，还能用什么词汇描述这两种色调？我们整理了8个关于秋色的表达， feuille morte（枯叶黄）、amber（琥珀色）、gamboge（藤黄）……学会这些单词，你也可以写出诗般优美的句子了。

 

1. Feuille morte 枯叶黄

In French, the term literally means "dead leaf." In English, feuille morte refers specifically to a brownish-orange or yellowish-brown color. The synonymous derivative, philamot, can also be used to describe the brownish, yellowish colors in autumn foliage. Feuille morte（枯叶黄）在法语中的意思是“枯叶”。在英语中，feuille morte专指橙褐色或黄褐色。其同义词philamot，也可以用来描述褐色、黄色的秋叶。

 

2. Sepia [sepja] 深棕色 

 In modern English, sepia is best known as the name for the brownish tone that makes photographs look vintage. Sepia hues can be found in an autumn leaf—and in the ocean. 在现代英语中，sepia为人熟知的意思是指复古照片的棕色调。秋叶和海洋中就有这种颜色。

 

Originally, the word was applied to the cuttlefish, a creature related to the squid and octopus that, when alarmed, releases an inky secretion. In the 19th century, watercolor painters began using sepia secretion to create a rich, brown pigment, which became known as sepia. A common description of the color is brownish gray to dark olive brown.

Sepia的本意指墨鱼，这种生物和乌贼、章鱼属于同类，受到惊吓时，会释放出一种污黑的分泌物。19世纪时，水彩画家们开始用墨鱼的分泌物制作色彩浓厚的棕色颜料，称之为sepia。对这种颜色最普遍的描述是介于棕灰色和深橄榄棕色之间的一种颜色。

 

3. Russet 红棕色

Being a reddish brown, russet is a popular fall color. Its name is a borrowing of an Anglo-French adjective, meaning "reddish" or "reddish-brown," that came to designate a coarse, homespun cloth used to make garments. English borrowed the French term for the cloth in the 13th century before using it in its color sense.

Russet指红棕色，是一种常见的秋天代表色。这个单词是诺曼时代英国所用法语中的一个形容词，原意为“略带红色的”或“略带红棕色的”，指代一种粗糙的土布衣料。13世纪时，人们将这个法语单词引入英语中，之后取其色彩含义使用。

 

Association of the word with rural living led to its use as an adjective meaning "rustic," "homely," and "simple." 因为russet和乡村生活有关，因此也可以做形容词表示“朴素的”、“家常的”、“简单的”意思。

 

4. Amber 琥珀色

Amber can describe the dark orange-yellow color of a floating leaf or a substance found floating in the sea. It is derived from Arabic, anbar, which refers to ambergris, a waxy secretion of the sperm whale that is used as a spice and in perfumery. In English, amber was originally used as the name for this substance, with the name ambergris developing later in French from ambre and gris ("gray") to differentiate it from the fossilized tree resin type of amber, which is also found around the shore (of the Baltic Sea, largely).

Amber（琥珀色）可以用来形容暗橘色的浮叶，或者海上的漂浮物。这个单词源于阿拉伯语中的anbar，指的是一种制作香料和香水的原材料——龙涎香（抹香鲸的蜡状分泌物）。Amber在英语中原本是龙涎香的名字。为了区分龙涎香和化石树脂型琥珀（大部分化石树脂型琥珀发现于波罗的海海岸），后来法语中出现了ambergris（龙涎香）的说法，这个单词由ambre和gris（同gray，灰）组成。

 

Species of insects and plants have been found as fossils in this yellowish to brownish amber, and deeply colored, translucent pieces are used in making jewelry and ornamental objects. It is from the color of this resin that amber has come to refer to a dark orange yellow.

这种黄棕色的琥珀中间包裹着昆虫和植物化石，而颜色浓且透亮的琥珀可以制作珠宝和装饰品。人们因为琥珀的颜色而用amber来指代暗橘黄色。