Magenta, a purple hue in terms of color theory, is a color evoked by light having less power in green wavelengths than in blue/violet and red wavelengths. In light experiments, magenta can be produced by removing the lime-green wavelengths from white light. It is an extra-spectral color, meaning it cannot be generated by a single wavelength of light, being a mixture of red and blue or violet wavelengths. The name magenta comes from the dye magenta, commonly called fuchsine, discovered shortly after the 1859 Battle of Magenta near Magenta, Italy.

By the early 1960s, vivid colors in the magenta range became available, and as a result many become aware that magenta, yellow, and cyan make better primary pigments than red, blue, and yellow (although this information had been discovered by printers in the 19th century; magenta, cyan, and yellow have been in continuous use as the primary colors in printing since the late 19th century).