green

Etymology 1

From Middle English grene, from Old English grēne, from Proto-West Germanic *grōnī, from Proto-Germanic *grōniz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow”). More at grow. See also North Frisian green, West Frisian grien, Dutch groen, Low German grön, green, greun, German grün, Danish and Norwegian Nynorsk grøn, Swedish grön, Norwegian Bokmål grønn, Icelandic grænn.

adj

1. Having green as its color.
   The former flag of Libya is fully green.
2. (figurative, of people) Sickly, unwell.
   Sally looks pretty green—is she going to be sick?
3. Unripe, said of certain fruits that change color when they ripen.
4. (figurative) Inexperienced.
   John's kind of green, so take it easy on him this first week.
   He acted like a green racehorse, plunging over his jumps, tearing to the front of the field of riders. 2008, Richard R. Rust, Renegade Champion: The Unlikely Rise of Fitzrada, page 91
5. (figurative) Full of life and vigour; fresh and vigorous; new; recent.
   a green manhood
   a green wound
   1952, Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, page 12:
   "How old was I when you first took me in a boat?" "Five and you were nearly a man when I brought the fish in too green and he nearly tore the boat to pieces. Can you remember?"
6. (figurative, of people) Naive or unaware of obvious facts.
7. (figurative, of people) Overcome with envy.
   He was green with envy.
8. (figurative) Environmentally friendly.
   green energy
   Green New Deal
   As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field. 2013-05-10, Audrey Garric, “Urban canopies let nature bloom”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 22, page 30
   Oatly said it hoped Blackstone’s investment would inspire other private equity firms “to steer their collective worth of $4 trillion into green investments.” 2021-05-18, Jack Ewing, Lauren Hirsch, “The Big Money Is Going Vegan”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
9. (cricket) Describing a pitch which, even if there is no visible grass, still contains a significant amount of moisture.
10. (dated) Of bacon or similar smallgoods: unprocessed, raw, unsmoked; not smoked or spiced.
11. (dated) Not fully roasted; half raw.
12. (film">film, television, historical) Of film">film: freshly processed by the laboratory and not yet fully physically hardened.
    Following initial drying of film in a motion picture laboratory (after treatment in a hardening-fixing bath) the gelatin structure of an emulsion contracts and is permanently changed. The hardening action still continues for a time as a further small amount of residual moisture is given up. While traces of excess moisture remain, the emulsion is "green," relatively soft, […] 1947, Theatre Catalog, volume 5, page 570
    […] attaching pre-photographed and pre-printed footage of a focusing chart to daily film footage without taking into consideration that such film may be worn or dried out and therefore, in its plane of best focus, would not be identical to that of the green film of the daily rushes. 1961, American Cinematographer, volume 42, page 618
13. Of freshly cut wood or lumber that has not been dried: containing moisture and therefore relatively more flexible or springy.
    That timber is still too green to be used.
14. (wine) High or too high in acidity.
15. (Philippines) Having a sexual connotation.
16. (particle physics) Having a color charge of green.
17. Being or relating to the green currencies of the European Union.
    the green pound
    the green lira
18. (academia) Subject to or involving a model of open access in which a published article is only available for to read for free after an embargo period.
    Coordinate term: gold

Etymology 2

From Middle English grene, from the adjective (see above).

noun

1. The colour of growing foliage, as well as other plant cells containing chlorophyll; the colour between yellow and blue in the visible spectrum; one of the primary additive colour for transmitted light; the colour obtained by subtracting red and blue from white light using cyan and yellow filters.
   green:
   bright green :
   In a period of increasing industrialization and the palette of grey, brown, and black that came to dominate the modern city, greens provided a refreshing contrast, seemingly bringing the outdoors in. 2015, Alison Matthews David, Fashion Victims: The Damages of Dress Past and Present, page 81
2. (politics, sometimes capitalised) A member of a green party; an environmentalist.
   How have greens sought to map an ecologically and socially sustainable future for society? 2013, Joe Smith, What Do Greens Believe?, page 62
3. (politics, sometimes capitalised) Islamist.
   In its most extreme formulation, this vision has devolved into a caricature of Islam as the "Green Peril" (green is the colour of Islam) advancing across the world stage, an image that echoes both the "Red Menace" of Cold War discourse and anti-Asian polemics about the "Yellow Peril". 1999, Roxanne L. Euben, Enemy in the Mirror: Islamic Fundamentalism and the Limits of Modern Rationalism, page 6
   Some politicians tried to encourage this replacement of the red with a green menace. 2006, Benjamin Soares, Muslim-Christian encounters in Africa, page 11
   While Bill Clinton struggled during the 1990s to bring order to a chaotic world increasingly wracked by ethnic and religious conflict, critics detected signs that a new "green" threat - radical Islam - was supplanting the earlier "red threat" - international communism - that had kept every president from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan awake at night. 2009, Douglas Little, American Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East since 1945, page 317
4. (golf) A putting green, the part of a golf course near the hole.
   I gave him my putter earlier this year in Oklahoma City. He was having trouble on the greens and I said, ‘Here, try this.’ He did, and he’s been going great guns ever since. 1964-06-16, Arnold Palmer, quotee, “All Eyes On Lema At U.S. Open This Week”, in The Indianapolis Star, volume 62, number 11, Indianapolis, Ind., page 22
   There are eighteen holes but I dare any visitor to find more than, say, twelve fairways and seven or eight greens. 2010, Dan Jenkins, Fairways and Greens, page 233
5. (bowls) The surface upon which bowls is played.
6. (snooker">snooker) One of the colour balls used in snooker">snooker, with a value of 3 points.
7. (Britain) a public patch of land in the middle of a settlement.
8. A grassy plain; a piece of ground covered with verdant herbage.
9. (chiefly in the plural) Fresh leaves or branches of trees or other plants; wreaths.
10. Any substance or pigment of a green colour.
11. A green light used as a signal.
    To the casual cockpit observer, landing-gear operation appears to be one of the most elementary tasks we have to perform. Either the switch is up and the lights are out, or it's down and there are three greens. 1992, “How to Avoid the Most Embarrassing of Pilot Errors”, in Flying Magazine, volume 119, number 6, page 94
12. (uncountable, slang) Marijuana.
    You're better of smoking the green instead cause it don't blim-burn and it's better for your head. 2003, “Soap Bar”, in The Manifesto, performed by Goldie Looking Chain
    They see me, hoes actin like they seen a king / With that mean lean, smokin on that finest Cali green 2005, “Drive Slow”, in Late Registration, performed by Kanye West
13. (US, slang, uncountable) Money.
14. (particle physics) One of the three color charges for quarks.
15. (theater, informal) Short for green room.
    Today, actors say off-handedly, 'See you on the green' or 'I'll be in the green room' without giving the expressions much thought. In Shakespeare's day, actors changed behind the stage in the 'tiring house', […] 2016, Bruce Montague, The Book of Shakespearian Useless Information

Etymology 3

From Middle English grenen, from Old English grēnian (“to become green, flourish”), from Proto-West Germanic *grōnijan, from Proto-Germanic *grōnijōną, *grōnijaną (“to become green”), from the adjective (see above). Cognate with Saterland Frisian gräinje, German Low German grönen, German grünen, Swedish gröna, Icelandic gróna.

verb

1. (transitive) To make (something) green, to turn (something) green.
2. To become or grow green in colour.
   by greening slope and singing flood 1886, John Greenleaf Whittier, Flowers in Winter
3. (transitive) To add greenspaces to (a town, etc.).
   The newer 39-story, 1.5-million-square-foot tower occupies much of the original Shearson Garden, a larger parklet that briefly greened the construction site to be, and is remembered fondly by nearby Tribecans. 2000, AIA Guide to New York City, page 58
4. (intransitive) To become environmentally aware.
5. (transitive) To make (something) environmentally friendly.
   "The SNP like to talk the talk about net zero targets, but they can't walk the walk. We need a fares freeze for everyone if we want to get serious about greening the economy and a public railway run in the public interest." June 28 2023, Conrad Landin, “Network News: Scottish 4.8% rail fares rise labelled 'bad news'”, in RAIL, number 986, page 18