1.
green; green color
The color green, as seen in leaves and grass.
緑色の葉が美しい。
The green leaves are beautiful.
信号が緑色に変わった。
The traffic light changed to green.
この絵の具は緑色が鮮やかだ。
This paint has a vivid green.
春になると、山が緑色に染まる。
In spring, the mountains are dyed green.
緑 (green) + 色 (color). The explicit color-name form, used when specifying or describing the color green precisely.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 緑色の野菜: green vegetables
- 緑色に光る: to shine green
- 緑色に染まる: to be dyed green
- 濃い緑色: dark green
- 薄い緑色: light green
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 緑: green — used more broadly and poetically; 緑色 is more concrete and descriptive
- 青: blue/green — traditionally covers both blue and green in Japanese; traffic lights are called 青 even though they appear green
USAGE:
In Japanese, 青 historically encompassed both blue and green. The distinction between 青 and 緑 became clearer in modern Japanese, but 青 is still used for green traffic lights and green apples (青りんご). 緑色 is unambiguously green.