Taupe

Taupe refers to a dark grayish-brown color.  The word "taupe" derives from the Latin name for the European Mole, Talpa europaea. 

Originally, this referred only to the average color of the French mole,Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 205; Discussion of the color Taupe, Page 183 but like the colors pink and lavender, the name expanded (in the case of taupe beginning in the 1940s) to encompass a wide range of varying shades.  It seems that this occurred because the color of the fur of the mole can itself be a wide range of shades, from gray through yellowish, brownish, and even purplish.

The first use of taupe as a color name in English was in the early 1800s (exact year is not known).  Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 205; Discussion of Color Taupe, Page 183; Color Sample of Taupe: Page 55 Plate 16 Color Sample A6

Meaning of taupe
 The various shades of the color taupe are widely used in fashion, interior design, industrial design, and in graphic design where Pantone ink and RGB hexadecimal specifiers both describe the color as a warm gray.

 Taupe is the most popular  color for leather sofas.

Tones of taupe color comparison chart
NameColorHEX CodeSourceRedGreenBlueHueSatLumTaupe Beige#EBC2AF235194175019°60%80%Taos Taupe#BFAA80(Pantone TPX 15-1119)191170128040°33%63%Pale Taupe#BC987E(www.99colors.net) (Mouse)188152126025°32%62%Light Taupe#B38B6D(Taupe (Crayola colored pencils))179139109026°32%56%Warm Taupe#B29784(Pantone TPX 16-1318)178151132025°23%61%Pastel Taupe#AF9E89(Light Taupe (Pantone TPX 16-1210))175158137033°19%61%Simply Taupe#ABA092(Pantone TPX 16-0906)71100146034°13%62%Plaza Taupe#A79E8B(Pantone TPX 16-1105)167158139041°14%60%Perfect Taupe#A99F95(Resene color list)169159149030°10%62%Desert Taupe#A18178(Pantone TPX 17-1311)161129120013°18%55%Sandy Taupe#967117(ISCC-NBS)15011323043°73%34%Taupe Gray #8B8589(ISCC-NBS)139133137320°3%53%Medium Taupe Gray#88786A(Taupe Gray (Pantone TPX 17-8080))136120106028°12%47%Rose Taupe#905D5D(ISCC-NBS)1449393000°22%46%Mauve Taupe#915F6D(ISCC-NBS)14595109343°21%47%Deep Rose Taupe#7E5E60(Rose Taupe (Pantone TPX 18-1612))1269496356°15%43%Deep Taupe#715F6D(Pantone TPX 18-1312)1139286313°009%41%Taupe Brown#674C47ISCC-NBS (Medium Taupe)1037671009°18%34%Purple Taupe#504040(www.99colors.net)806477000°11%28%Taupe#483C32(ISCC-NBS) (Taupe (Maerz and Paul))(Dark Taupe)726050027°18%24%French Taupe#463F32(Taupe (pourpre.com))706350039°17%24%

Related pages
List of colors

References