face, color

顏 is composed of 彥 (elegant) and 頁 (page). 彥 conveys the idea of trimming the hair neatly, while 頁 represents the head. The original meaning of 顏 is a fine appearance. Later, as 諺 developed other meanings, the character 顏 was separately created to take its place. Nowadays, in addition to meaning facial appearance, 顏 is also used to refer to color.