palette

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pal·ette / ˈpalit/ • n. a thin board or slab on which an artist lays and mixes colors. ∎  the range of colors used by a particular artist or in a particular picture: I choose a palette of natural, earthy colors. ∎  fig. the range or variety of tonal or instrumental color in a musical piece: he commands the sort of tonal palette that this music needs. ∎  (in computer graphics) the range of colors or shapes available to the user.ORIGIN: late 18th cent.: from French, diminutive of pale ‘shovel,’ from Latin pala ‘spade.’

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