Fade Comes From a Word Meaning Dull or Tasteless
To fade is to lose colour or strength gradually. The French root meant insipid.
To fade is to lose colour, strength or freshness gradually. Old French *fade* meant dull, insipid or tasteless, describing food without flavour before it described cloth without colour. The shift from taste to sight is the same one behind *bland* and *flat*, both of which can describe a meal or a painting. Cinema borrowed *fade in* and *fade out* early, and sound recording took the same terms for volume.
- To lose colour. *The curtains faded.*
- To weaken. *Hopes faded.*
- Fade out — diminish to nothing. *Fade out.*
- A short haircut. *A fade.*
- Old French — *fade*, insipid. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | fade | Fading. |
| Past | faded | Faded. |
| Noun | fade | A fade. |
| Adjective | faded | Faded. |
| Old French | fade | Insipid. |
- The photograph had faded.Colour.
- The music faded out.Sound.
- Fade first meant tasteless.Etymology.
Words that moved from taste to sight
- Fade — from insipid to colourless
- Bland — a dish or a painting can both be bland
- Flat — of a drink, and of a performance
- Rich — of a sauce, and of a colour
- Sharp — of a flavour, an image and a sound
Old French *fade*, dull or insipid, probably from Latin *fatuus*, foolish, blended with *vapidus*, flat.
Did fade always describe colour?
No. The French word meant dull or tasteless, describing food first. The visual sense came afterwards.
Where do fade in and fade out come from?
Early cinema, which borrowed the word for gradual transitions. Sound recording then adopted the same terms for volume.