Fallow is a pale brown color that is the color of withered foliage or sandy soil in fallow fields.[1] This however is a post factum rationalization, and the etymologies are distinct.
Fallow is one of the oldest color names in English. The first recorded use of fallow as a color name in English was in the year 1000.[2] The color was historically often used to describe the coats of some animals, such as fallow deer.[1]
The normalized color coordinates for fallow are identical to wood brown, camel and desert, which were first recorded as color names in English in 1886,[3][lower-alpha 1] 1916,[5] and 1920,[6] respectively.
↑Maerz & Paul, p. 195; Color Sample of Fallow: p. 47 Plate 12 Color Sample B5
↑Ridgway (1886), pp. 36, 54, 117; Color Sample of Wood Brown: Plate III fig. 19
↑Ridgway (1912), p. 40; Color Sample of Wood Brown: Plate XL
↑Maerz & Paul, p. 191; Color Sample of Camel: p. 49 Plate 15 Color Sample A6
↑Maerz & Paul, p. 203; Color Sample of Desert: p. 47 Plate 12 Color Sample I7
External links
ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955) - Color dictionary used by stamp collectors to identify the colors of stamps—See sample of the color Fallow (color sample #76) displayed on indicated page.