Why is color green associated with envy?

Answer 1

I did a lot of looking on the internet because I got curious too and it's from the 17th Century:

Judith S. Neaman and Carole G. Silver report that 'green' and 'pale' were alternate meanings of the same Greek word.

In the seventh century B.C., the poetess Sappho, used the word 'green' to describe the complexion of a stricken lover.

The Greeks believed that jealousy was accompanied by an overproduction of bile, lending a pallid green cast to the victim.

Ovid, Chaucer, and Shakespeare followed suit, freely using 'green' to denote jealousy or envy.

The last reference I found was:

Lago's speech in Act 3 of Othello:

"O! beware my lord, of Jealousy; It is the green-ey'd monster which doth mock. The meat it feeds on."

So I learned something new today too! This is fun :)

Answer 2

Here is something I found that might help to explain it. Think of the expression "The grass is always greener on the other side." When someone is envious of someone else, it is usually because they have something or someone they want. Thus maybe they are green with envy.

Answer 3

Beats me. It surely goes back a long way ... as in "the green-eyed monster of envy."

Answer 4

I don't know - green is also associated with money (green), grass (green), people green with envy (green people?)!@