coloration

[ kuhl-uh-rey-shuh n ]

/ ˌkʌl əˈreɪ ʃən /

appearance with regard to color arrangement or use of colors; coloring: the bold coloration of some birds.

Origin of coloration

First recorded in 1605–15; color + -ation

col·o·ra·tion·al, adjective col·o·ra·tion·al·ly, adverb de·col·or·a·tion, noun o·ver·col·or·a·tion, noun

pre·col·or·a·tion, noun re·col·or·a·tion, noun trans·col·or·a·tion, noun

How, then, did the first day of the Christmas-shopping season come to have the coloration of calamity?

Black Friday Is Like Occupy Wall Street |Lee Siegel |November 26, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
And Prince Harry may be a Windsor, but in coloration and temperament he is indubitably a flaming-red Spencer.

Notes From a Royal Wedding |Tina Brown |May 1, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
Variation in coloration is of such magnitude that it has been used as the basis for recognition of subspecies.

A Revision of Snakes of the Genus Conophis (Family Colubridae, from Middle America) |John Wellman
Yet these birds are beautifully adapted in structure, coloration, and habits to their station.

Argentine Ornithology, Volume I (of 2) |P. L. Sclater

There is great variation both in the coloration and in the integuments.

The Solomon Islands and Their Natives |H. B. (Henry Brougham) Guppy
The most remarkable feature of the coloration of weasels is the winter whitening.

American Weasels |E. Raymond Hall
The one difference that I can detect is in the coloration of the nape.

Mammals Obtained by Dr. Curt von Wedel from the Barrier Beach of Tamaulipas, Mexico |E. Raymond Hall

coloration

/ (ˌkʌləˈreɪʃən) /

arrangement of colour and tones; colouring

the colouring or markings of insects, birds, etc See also apatetic, aposematic, cryptic

unwanted extraneous variations in the frequency response of a loudspeaker or listening environment