Lavender is a light shade of purple or violet. This is especially true for the color of the flower of the same name. On the right is the color of the cobweb called lavender: it corresponds to the color of the lightest part of the lavender flower; However, the more saturated color shown below is closer to the average lavender flower color as pictured and is the shade of lavender historically and traditionally thought of as lavender by the average person rather than designers. The lavender color can be described as a medium purple or light purple pink. The term lavender can be used loosely to refer to a wide range of shades of pale, light, or grayish purple, but only on the blue side. Lilac is pale purple on the pinkish side. In paintings, lavender color is obtained by mixing lilac and white paint. The first recorded use of the word lavender as a color term in English dates back to 1705.