violet vs purple vs ultraviolet

[keannu]

Are violet and purple exactly same? Do they refer to the same color?
I thought "ultraviolet" means the color outside of violet in the rainbow colors as "ultra" means "over" or "exceeding" or "beyond". Where is "ultraviolet" from?

[SoothingDave]

Ultraviolet is outside of the visible spectrum. It isn't a color cause you can't see it. (Same for "infrared" on the other end of the spectrum.)

Purple is normally a darker color than violet.

Here is more than you probably want to know about purple:

Purple - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The

spectral colors violet and indigo are not purples according to color theory but they are purples according to common English usage since they are between red and blue.

Violet is a spectral color (approximately 380–420 nm), of a shorter wavelength than blue, while purple is a combination of red and blue or violet light.^[10] The purples are colors that are not spectral colors – purples are extra-spectral colors. In fact, purple was not present on Newton's color wheel (which went directly from violet to red), though it is on modern ones, between red and violet. There is no such thing as the "wavelength of purple light"; it only exists as a combination.

[keannu]

Don't you think "ultraviolet"'s "violet" means the last color in the spectrum? The order of the spectrum is "Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet" and that's why "infrared" is the outside of "red" while "ultraviolet" is the outside of "violet".

But the thing is that in Korean, "violet" in rainbow colors is replaced by "purple", and "ultraviolet"'s "violet" is translated as purple, so I was wondering if the two are interchangeable, or Koreans made a mistake in translation.

[SoothingDave]

Yes, "violet" is the proper term for the color in the spectrum. If you have something translated that says there is "purple" after blue and indigo, then it's wrong. If you have something translated that there is something known as "ultrapurple" light, then it's really wrong.

Many people, in common everyday English, will refer to violet or indigo as "purple." It sounds like it is the same in Korean. But if talking about the spectrum of light, use "violet."

[emsr2d2]

The British nursery rhyme/children's song which teaches children the colours of the rainbow, begins:

Red and yellow and pink and green
Orange and purple and blue ...


it is entirely understandable that some people use "purple" instead of "violet" and also that many people don't know the order in which the colours appear in the spectrum.

[keannu]

I think the confusion over the difference between "purple" and "violet" comes from their similarity. When I searched them on the net and tried to tell them, I couldn't do well. They looked quite similar!!!

[SoothingDave]

This is a "violet spectrum." The colors on the left I would call "purple." On the right would be "violet."

[Rover_KE]

I use this mnemonic to remember the order of the colours of the rainbow:

Richard of York gave battle in vain.

Rover

[keannu]

Thanks for the mnemonic, but what does "gave battle" mean? Just nothing?

[5jj]

Thanks for the mnemonic, but what does "gave battle" mean? Just nothing?

'Give battle' - fight.