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green Meaning & Definition

ˈgrēn

What Does Green Mean?

As an adjective, green means of the color green. It is also used to mean covered by green growth or foliage see also green roof. As a noun, it means a color whose hue is somewhat less yellow than that of growing fresh grass or of the emerald or is that of the part of the spectrum lying between blue and yellow. As a verb, it means to make green.

Quick Facts About Green

Part of speechadjective, noun, verb, biographical name, geographical name
Pronunciation/ˈgrēn/
Syllables1
Synonymschromatic, naive and naif
Antonymsmature, ripe and barren
Pluralgreens
Comparative / superlativegreener, greenest
Verb formsgreens, greening, greened
Adverbgreenly

Green Definition (Adjective)

  1. of the color green
  2. covered by green growth or foliage see also green roof

    green fields

  3. consisting of green plants and usually edible herbage

    a green salad

  4. mild, clement
  5. envious
  6. marked by a pale, sickly, or nauseated appearance see also green around the gills

    Passengers prone to seasickness were turning green.

  7. not ripened or matured

    green peaches

  8. deficient in training, knowledge, or experience

    green recruits

  9. deficient in sophistication and savoir faire : naive

    was green and credulous

  10. not fully qualified for or experienced in a particular function

    very green but eager to learn

  11. youthful, vigorous
  12. fresh, new
  13. relating to or being an environmentalist political movement
  14. concerned with or supporting environmentalism

    green consumers who practice recycling

  15. tending to preserve environmental quality (as by being recyclable, biodegradable, or nonpolluting)

    greener energy solutions

  16. pleasantly alluring
  17. not fully processed or treated: such as
  18. freshly sawed

    green lumber

  19. not aged

    green liquor

  20. not dressed or tanned

    green hides

  21. not in condition for a particular use

Green as a Noun

  1. a color whose hue is somewhat less yellow than that of growing fresh grass or of the emerald or is that of the part of the spectrum lying between blue and yellow
  2. something of a green color
  3. green clothing or cloth
  4. green vegetation: such as
  5. leafy herbs (such as spinach, dandelions, or Swiss chard) cooked as a vegetable see also mustard greens
  6. green vegetables
  7. leafy parts of plants for use as decoration
  8. an area consisting of or resembling grass: such as
  9. a usually grassy park or common in the center of a town or village

    Mashpee, Massachusetts has a new town green, complete with bandstand.

  10. putting green
  11. bowling green
  12. money
  13. U.S. paper money : greenbacks
  14. environmentalist
  15. a member of an activist political party focusing on environmental and social issues
  16. one of the three colors see color:1 that quarks have in the theory of quantum chromodynamics

    Whereas there is just one kind of electric charge, however, there are three kinds of color charge, usually called red, blue and green. (The names, of course, have nothing to do with colors in the everyday sense.)

Green as a Verb

  1. to make green
  2. rejuvenate, revitalize
  3. to become green

Green as a Biographical Name

  1. Julien or Julian 1900–1998 French novelist

Biographical Name

  1. William 1873–1952 American labor leader

Green as a Geographical Name

  1. river 730 miles (1175 kilometers) long in the western U.S. flowing from the Wind River Range in western Wyoming south into the Colorado River in southeastern Utah
  2. city in northeastern Ohio south of Akron

Synonyms of Green

Green synonyms and antonyms →

Antonyms of Green

Green in a Sentence

green:  

bright green :  

He is wearing a green shirt.

The former flag of Libya is fully green.

Sally looks pretty green—is she going to be sick?

John's kind of green, so take it easy on him this first week.

a green manhood

a green wound

He was green with envy.

green energy

Green New Deal

That timber is still too green to be used.

the green pound

the green lira

Sally looks pretty green — is she going to be sick?

a green manhood;   a green wound

the green pound; the green lira

green fields

a green salad

Passengers prone to seasickness were turning green.

green peaches

green recruits

was green and credulous

very green but eager to learn

green consumers who practice recycling

greener energy solutions

green lumber

green liquor

green hides

Mashpee, Massachusetts has a new town green, complete with bandstand.

Whereas there is just one kind of electric charge, however, there are three kinds of color charge, usually called red, blue and green. (The names, of course, have nothing to do with colors in the everyday sense.)

fields green with meadow grass

a new pitcher who's pretty green, even by rookie standards

in spite of her age, she's still green enough to be hoodwinked by fast-talking scammers

the lonely soldier dreamt of the fields of green that he had wandered in as a youth

I need to save up some green before I can afford that cruise

Word Forms & Grammar

green·ish adjective

green·ish·ness noun

green·ly adverb

green·ness noun

Green

Greens

green

greener

greenest

greenish

greenishness

greenishnesses

greenlier

greenliest

greenly

greenness

greennesses

green with envy

greens

greeny adjective

greenier

greeniest

greeny

greened

green·ing

greening

Julian Green

Julian Hartridge Green

Julien Green

Julien Hartridge Green

Julien Julian Green

William Green

green around the gills

green (countable and uncountable, plural greens)

green (comparative greener, superlative greenest)

green (third-person singular simple present greens, present participle greening, simple past and past participle greened)

Words That Rhyme With Green

Origin of Green

Origin 1: Middle English grene, from Old English grēne; akin to Old English grōwan to grow

Origin 2: see green:1

Origin 3: From Middle English grene, from Old English grēne, from Proto-West Germanic *grōnī, from Proto-Germanic *grōniz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow”). More at grow. Doublet of Gruen.

Origin 4: See also North Frisian green, West Frisian grien, Dutch groen, Low German grön, green, greun, German grün, Danish and Norwegian Nynorsk grøn, Swedish grön, Norwegian Bokmål grønn, Faroese grønur, Icelandic grænn.

Origin 5: The sense of obscene, pornographic, or sexual in the Philippines is a semantic loan from Spanish verde. In other varieties of English, blue is the color instead associated with obscenity or pornography.

Origin 6: From Middle English grenen, from Old English grēnian (“to become green, flourish”), from Proto-West Germanic *grōnijan, from Proto-Germanic *grōnijōną, *grōnijaną (“to become green”), from the adjective (see above).

First Known Use

before 12th century

before 12th centuryi

How Do You Say Green?

You say green as /ˈgrēn/. It has 1 syllable.

Common Questions About Green

Is green an adjective or a noun?

Green is mainly used as an adjective, but it can also be used as a noun, a verb, a biographical name and a geographical name.

What is another word for green?

Close synonyms of green are chromatic, naive and naif. See the full list of green synonyms and antonyms.

What is the opposite of green?

Antonyms of green include mature, ripe, barren and leafless.

What is the plural of green?

The plural of green is greens.

What is the past tense of green?

The past tense of green is greened. The present participle is greening.

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