A nuance is a very small difference in something, such as color, tone, meaning, etc.

// Amy’s musical ear makes it easy for her to detect the subtle nuances in sampled music.

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“Whether it’s historians, journalists, anthropologists or poets, those outside our community have attempted to narrate our experiences. But no matter how well intentioned, they cannot fully capture the depth and truth of our story. Why? Because only we can speak with the authority of lived memory, cultural nuance and ancestral knowing.” — Ka Vang, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 1 June 2025

The history of nuance starts in Latin with the noun nūbēs, meaning “cloud.” Nūbēs floated into Middle French as nu, also meaning “cloud,” which eventually gave rise to nuer, meaning “to make shades of color.” (The association of a word for “cloud” with gradation of color apparently comes from the perception that an object’s color is weakened when mist passes over it.) Nuer in turn produced nuance, which in Middle French meant “shade of color.” English borrowed nuance from French, with the meaning “a subtle distinction or variation,” in the late 18th century. That meaning persists today, but the word has also picked up a few nuances of its own. For example, nuance is sometimes used in a specific musical sense, designating a subtle, expressive variation in a musical performance (such as in tempo, dynamic intensity, or timbre) that is not indicated in the score.