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Riddle me this:

I am described by temperature, and never by looks.

I might be found in your camera, as well as children's books.

I described what you observed, but perhaps not at night.

I am swallowed by darkness, but am an offspring of light.

I have a pair of spellings, with and without;

An infinitude of relatives, though every eye has its doubt.

All of us can be found where seven rule the family.

I have not seen it, but there is a pot of gold, apparently.

My gender is defined by my shade and/or tone.

Unravel these clues, and the answer you will own.

I made up this riddle for fun. Hope you enjoy!

Hints for the answer are below.

Hint:

I can be light or dark and might be found on a wheel.
I am, quite literally, what your eyes may reveal.

Edit:

In line $3$, I changed the word "saw" to "observed" because it means the same thing; has more syllables; and sounds better with the word "darkness".

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2 Answers 2

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proposed solution

color / colour

I am described by temperature, and never by looks.

colors are warm/cold

I might be found in your camera, as well as children's books.

cameras capture color. children's books are full of them!

I described what you saw, but perhaps not at night.

it's hard to see color when it's dark..

I am swallowed by darkness, but am an offspring of light.

white light in a prism produces color

I have a pair of spellings, with and without;

color / colour

An infinitude of relatives, though every eye has its doubt.

the human eye can perceive approximately 10 million colors

All of us can be found where seven rule the family. I have not seen it, but there is a pot of gold, apparently.

rainbow

My gender is defined by my shade and/or tone.

traditional pink=girl blue=boy

Hint

color wheel

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Jul 12, 2018 at 0:51
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    $\begingroup$ Issue with first hint: Colours definitely can be, and often are described by their looks reference $\endgroup$
    – Jesse
    Jul 26, 2018 at 5:10
  • $\begingroup$ @Jesse welp, you got me :P $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Sep 9, 2018 at 5:01
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Alternate Solution?

While the first posted answer appears to be a correct solution, their seems to be another possible solution that I wanted to share:

I am described by temperature, and never by looks.

Sunlight is described as warm and all starlight properties are based on temperature, but cannot itself technically be seen by form to be described

I might be found in your camera, as well as children's books.

Sunlight can be seen in lens flares in cameras and illustrated children’s books sometimes depict rays of sunlight

I described what you observed, but perhaps not at night.

Sunlight “describes” (i.e. delineates) what is observed during the day, but not at night (except perhaps when reflected from a visible moon).

I am swallowed by darkness, but am an offspring of light.

No sunlight is present in darkness, but sunlight is a species of the family of light

I have a pair of spellings, with and without;

Sunlight/Sunshine or Sunlight/Starlight (depending on whether one wanted to emphasize the light only from the Earth's Sun, or light from any "suns" out there in space.

An infinitude of relatives, though every eye has its doubt.

Sunlight (from Earth’s Sun) is related to all starlight from the infinitude of the stars, though every person doubts an infinite number of stars exist

All of us can be found where seven rule the family.

There are currently seven defined spectral classes of stars that are related to their light’s temperature

I have not seen it, but there is a pot of gold, apparently.

Sunlight causes rainbows, at the “end” of which is supposedly a pot of gold

My gender is defined by my shade and/or tone.

Light directly from the sun versus reflected sunlight from the moon differs in shade and tone, and the properties of that light have caused cultures to refer to its emitter or reflector by masculine or feminine pronouns (though opinions on which is which vary)

Unravel these clues, and the answer you will own.

Sunlight

HINT:

I can be light or dark and might be found on a wheel.

    Most stars release sun/starlight, but dark stars (theoretcially) do not let the light out, so the light is dark; sunlight is found on sundials.

I am, quite literally, what your eyes may reveal.

    Eyes are needed for light of any kind to be revealed (experienced visually).

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  • $\begingroup$ may be instead of sunlight, sun itself may be the answer. $\endgroup$
    – no name
    Jul 6, 2018 at 18:03
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    $\begingroup$ @noname The sun, as best I can tell, does not match well to the 1st line (not described by looks) or the 5th line (two spellings) $\endgroup$
    – ScottS
    Jul 6, 2018 at 20:09
  • $\begingroup$ This is also another answer, it seems! Unfortunately, it was not what I had in mind. I could not accept the other answer, though, because I had to see a musical, and then when I arrived home, it was late and I had to go to sleep. But $+1$ for a good answer :) $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Jul 6, 2018 at 23:33
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    $\begingroup$ Reading through this answer, again, it seems like a very appropriate answer. I accept this answer, too, even though it might not have the tick :\ $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Jul 7, 2018 at 0:03
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    $\begingroup$ The "starlight" is really good $\endgroup$
    – Ooker
    Jul 7, 2018 at 8:41

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