'full-color' originates from English as a compound of 'full' and 'color'. 'full' traces to Old English 'full', meaning 'filled' or 'complete', and 'color' traces ultimately to Latin 'color', meaning 'appearance, hue'.

'color' came into English via Old French 'colour' from Latin 'color'; the spelling 'color' (without 'u') is the modern US variant while 'colour' remains in British English. 'full-color' formed as a compound to describe something using the full range of colors.

Initially the elements meant 'complete/filled' and 'hue/appearance'; over time the compound came to specifically mean 'printed or displayed using the full range of colors' in publishing and display contexts.