One of the subtractive primary colors—appearing purple-red—characterized by its absorption of green light. It is used in various proportions with the other subtractive primaries—cyan and yellow—to form many other colors. Magenta is often incorrectly used as a synonym for red.
Magenta is also a term for one of the four process color inks used in multi-color printing. Also incorrectly referred to as "red" (or process red) it is the red component used in many types of color mixing.
The word magenta derives from the name of one of the first synthetic dyes developed by French chemists, named in 1859 after the victory of the French army in the Italian town of Magenta.