pal·ette 
(pălĭt)
(pălĭt)n.
1. A board, typically with a hole for the thumb, which an artist can hold while painting and on which colors are mixed.
2.
a. The range of colors used in a visual medium, in a picture, or by an artist: a limited palette.
b. Any similar set of elements or qualities, such as musical notes, used in a medium, in a composition, or by an artist.
[French, from Old French, small potter's shovel, diminutive of pale, shovel, spade, from Latin pāla; see pag- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]