Ochre

Photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net

This week I'd like to talk about the word ochre [oh-ker], which can also be spelled ocher. (But I prefer the first spelling.) Used as a noun, ochre means "any of a class of natural earths, mixtures of hydrated oxide of iron with various earthy materials", according to Dictionary.com. I want to focus on the word as an adjective, however, and in this case it means the color of ochre -- which ranges from a pale yellow to an orangish or reddish yellow. To me, ochre seems like the quintessential color of autumn. Here are a few examples of this word in a sentence:

I love walking through the woods in the fall, 

under a blazing canopy of crimson and ochre leaves.

The field was filled with pumpkins of all sizes, 

some a deep orange, some ochre, and a few with still 

a tinge of green.

Anna pulled the bulky, ochre-colored sweater 

out of her closet. "This will be perfect for a 

chilly autumn morning," she thought.

Can you think of other things that are the color of ochre? How would you use this word?