Coloration comes from Late Latin coloratio, from coloratus, past participle of colorare ('to color'), from color ('color, hue'). The historical trail runs through coloratio in Late Latin and color in Latin. Used as a noun, coloration now means "the arrangement or pattern of colors on something", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as color, colorful, discoloration, and colorize. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.