1. a thin board or slab on which an artist lays and mixes colors.
▪ the range of colors used by a particular artist or in a particular picture: "I choose a palette of natural, earthy colors"
▪ the range or variety of tonal or instrumental color in a musical piece: "he commands the sort of tonal palette that this music needs"
▪ (in computer graphics) the range of colors or shapes available to the user.
▪ a small flat case containing several separate shades of eyeshadow or other makeup product:"our Essential Eyes palette has eight mix-and-match shades"
Word Originearly 17th century (in the form pallet): from French, diminutive of pale ‘shovel’, variant of pelle, from Latin pala ‘spade’.