colour codecolor coden.
/ˈkʌlə kəʊd/, U.S. /ˈkələr ˌkoʊd/ A system of coding things according to colour, esp. one in which objects are marked with different colours as a means of identification.
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society > communication > indication > marking > marking to identify > mark of identification > [noun] > by different colours
colour code1893
colour coding1931
1893 Trans. Amer. Soc. Civil Engineers 29 507 In addition to the distant signal, the original English color code was adopted, so that in France red stands for danger, green for caution, and white for safety.
1919 E. B. Gowin Developing Executive Ability (1920) ix. 166 The scheme is really nothing more than a color code, the various colors as symbols, representing whatever information has been previously decided upon.
1962 B.S.I. News Feb. 24/1 It was decided that the standardization of a colour code should be considered for the identification of the main connections from the power supply to transportable equipment.
1976 B. Gaddis How to repair Home Laundry Appliances i. 32 Wiring for this system uses the black and white color-code system, as used in the two-wire system.
2003 R. S. Khandpur Troubleshooting Electronic Equipm. (2007) vii. 164 In the colour code, each number from 0 to 9 has been assigned a colour according to Fig. 7.1.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1893