Yellow is the color of gold, butter, or ripe lemons. In the spectrum of visible light, and in the traditional color wheel used by painters, yellow is located between green and orange.

Yellow is commonly associated with gold, sunshine, reason, optimism and pleasure, but also with envy, jealousy and betrayal. It plays an important part in Asian culture, particularly in China. he word "yellow" comes from the Old English geolu, geolwe, meaning "yellow, yellowish," derived from the Proto-Germanic word gelwaz. It has the same Indo-European base, -ghel, as the word yell; -ghel means both bright and gleaming, and to cry out. Yellow is a color which cries out for attention.

The English term is related to other Germanic words for yellow, namely Scots yella, East Frisian jeel, West Frisian giel, Dutch geel, German gelb, and Swedish gul. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the oldest known use of this word in English is from The Epinal Glossary in the year 700.