sepia.

1. A brown coloring substance traditionally prepared from cuttlefish ink, or a pigment sold to reproduce its characteristic color.

2. A warm brown hue or monochrome brown tonal treatment, especially in images.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• sepia ink
• sepia pigment

On the page

Sepia ink darkened the sketch’s narrowest shadows.

The conservator distinguished the sepia pigment from a later brown wash.

Usage notes

Primary category: sensory / description. Forms: Usually uncountable as a pigment or color; plural sepias for distinct shades or preparations. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.