What do you call any two colors of light that combine to form white light?

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The term that describes any two colors of light that combine to form white light is "complementary colors of light." This concept is rooted in the additive color theory, which explains how different wavelengths of light can combine to create new colors. Specifically, when two complementary colors, such as red and cyan or green and magenta, are mixed at optimal intensities, they yield white light.

In the context of the electromagnetic spectrum, complementary colors account for the way the human eye perceives color by using three types of cone cells that react to red, green, and blue light. When colors combine additively, they can produce the full spectrum of visible light, ultimately resulting in white when all colors are present in equal intensity.

Understanding colors in terms of light differs from pigments or paints, which follow subtractive color mixing. Hence, the other terms, such as primary colors of light or secondary colors of light, refer to different aspects of color theory and do not define the specific interaction that leads to the formation of white light through the combination of two colors.