eau de nil
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Unadapted borrowing from French eau de nil (literally “water of the Nile”).
Noun edit
eau de nil (plural eau de nils)
- A pale green colour.
- eau de nil:
- 1968, Alan Burgess, The Word for Love[1], page 241:
- It was a sprawling town of upended concrete boxes tilting pastel rectangles up towards the hot sun: soft blues, prawn reds, pale chocolates, delicate eau de nils, primrose yellows […] .
- 2000, Ciarán Carson, Fishing for Amber[2], page 143:
- Such colouring! — slate blues, coral pinks, pale amphitrites, the wet cobblestone blue of mussels, frail sea-forget-me-nots, anemone yellows and carmines, emeralds and eau-de-nils!
- 2009, Debra Adelaide, The Household Guide to Dying[3], page 298:
- He had painted the ceiling and window and doorframes an aqua green, the walls eau-de-nil.
- 2011, Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight:
- Possibly the mauve one would look better,’ said Letitia, ‘although I have always been told that eau-de-nil is really my colour. By the way, could I make things up to you in some way by having you as my chief bridesmaid?
Adjective edit
eau de nil
- Of a pale green colour.
See also edit
- Nile green (a darker shade)
- Appendix:Colors