Watercolor (American English) or
watercolour (British English; see spelling
differences), also aquarelle (French: [akwaʁɛl]; from
Italian diminutive of Latin aqua "water"), is a painting method in which
the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution.
Watercolor refers to both the
medium and the resulting artwork.
Aquarelles painted with water-soluble colored ink instead of modern
water colors are called aquarellum atramento (Latin for "aquarelle made
with ink") by experts. However, this term has now tended to pass out of
use.