Colour...naming and perceiving

[vinteuil]

humour of yellow bile .

Yellow Bile

"Excess of yellow bile were thought to produce aggression, and excess anger reciprocally gave rise to liver derangement and imbalances in the humors. The English word "bilious" (peevish; irritable; cranky) derives from this conception, as does the meaning of "gall" as "exasperation" or "impudence", and the Latin word cholera, derived from the Greek kholé, which was passed upon several Romance languages in words meaning "anger" such as colère (French) and cólera (Spanish)."

[vinteuil]

But why "livid" and not "livic" (as in "splenetic" = of the spleen) gives me pause.

... because the word we wd expect wd be "jecuric", of the liver?

[french frank]

... because the word we wd expect wd be "jecuric", of the liver?

Yes, liver has a Germanic origin (Leberwurst &c), whereas livid comes more immediately from Latin lividus. I was suggesting a confusion between the two, the form of lividus > livid, the associations of Leber > liver.

[french frank]

Although this 1912 quote from Compton Mackenzie: " He was livid with fury. He asked if I thought he was made of money" simply suggests an alternative change of hue compared with 'red with anger'/'white with fury'. Red hot, white hot?.

[ardcarp]

...anyone mentioned 'gall' yet?

[vinteuil]

...anyone mentioned 'gall' yet?

... my #31 just above

[ardcarp]

Sorry!

[LeMartinPecheur]

'Wan' is a fascinating word! It seems that the meaning dark, lacking light (and the various colours/non-colours associated) > gloomy. So a 'wan smile' is perhaps also a 'joyless smile' (just as one speaks of a 'smile that lights up the room').

On the subject of pale and dark meanings for 'wan', if I recall correctly the word 'black' has experienced a similar reversal. Isn't it cognate with 'bleach', Ger. 'bleich'? The transition is supposed to relate to dead bodies, perhaps particularly those killed in battle. At first they're pale because drained of blood. But leave them lying around a few days and they go rather darker!