Jerry Avins wrote:
...
> Both "colour" and "color" are variants. "Coloure" preceded them. The OED
> shows the progression as ..., coloure, colour, color. Colour would seem
> to be less highly evolved, but the British are moving in our direction.
> They write "colorimeter", not "colourimeter".
>
> Jerry

I can understand how you would want to think that, but of course "colorimeter"
is a composite of the Latin Color and greek Meter, such as scientists love to
make. The OED also tells us that the "ou" form in "colour" (which can be traced
back to the 14th-Century) arose from the attempt to represent the long "o" sound
of the accented second syllable of the Latin "colorem". Hence also colorization,
etc. The French still enjoy this accentuation, hence "couleur", etc.

Richard Dobson