zieleń

zieleń [n] = green (colour); greenery, verdure in Polish

In Polish the words “zieleń” [n] / “zielony” [adj] (green) and “żółć” [n] / “żółty” [adj] (yellow) evolved from the same Proto-Indo-European root *ghelh- which meant green and yellow.

Various languages took different approach to that root. Germanic languages borrowed yellowness:
yellow in English
geel in Dutch
gelb in German
gul in Danish, Swedish & Norwegian
gulur in Icelandic & Faroese

Baltic languages took greenness only:
žalias in Lithuanian
zaļš in Latvian

Slavic languages made use of both meanings:
zielony / żółty in Polish
зялёны {zjaljony} / жоўты {žoŭty} in Belarusian
зелен {zelen} / жълт {žǎlt} in Bulgarian
zelený / žlutý in Czech
зелен {zelen} / жолт {žolt} in Macedonian
зелёный {zeljonyj} / жёлтый {žoltyj} in Russian
zelen / žut in Croatian
зелен {zelen} / жут {žut} in Serbian
zelený / žltý in Slovak
zelen / rumen (also žolt) in Slovene
zeleny / žołty in Lower & Upper Sorbian
зелений {zelenyj} / жовтий {žovtyj} in Ukrainian

Photo by @lukaszdaciuk (Instagram)

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